Organizational Resources and Performance: The Case of an Oil-Rich Country

Abstract

This study adopts the Resource-Based View (RBV) framework in investigating the relationships between the resources/capabilities of public organizations and their performance in an Arab oil-rich country, i.e. the United Arab Emirates (UAE). It concludes that the organizational financial and human resources and capabilities are found to influence organizational performance of the surveyed public organizations. An additional analysis shows that slack of resources, i.e. financial resources, is found to be the only significant organizational resource to influence corporate social performance. The findings of this study along with the interpretation of the RBV of organizational performance in the public sector reflect ‘practice variation’ and conclude that policy makers should deal with the fact that the current slack of resources in the UAE, as a major oil-producing country, may not last forever.