Resource-based View Approach Research Articles

Role of cloud ERP on the performance of an organization

PurposeCloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) enables an organization to pay for the services they need and removes the need to maintain information technology infrastructure. The purpose of this paper is to empirically test the role of cloud-based ERP services on the performance of an organization. Here, the performance is categorized as supply chain performance and organizational performance that comprises of financial performance and marketing performance. Contingent resource-based view (RBV) theory was used to develop a theoretical framework in which supply base complexity (SBC) acts as a moderating variable on the relationship between cloud ERP and the performance.Design/methodology/approachContingent RBV theory is used to explain the relationship between all identified variables in this paper. Partial least squares (PLS) based on structural equation modeling (SEM) is used to empirically test our theoretical framework.FindingsThe PLS-SEM analysis of 154 respondents supports the contingent RBV theory. Six hypotheses – out of the eight hypotheses formulated in this paper – are supported by data.Research limitations/implicationsGiven this study was conducted in India where the potential of cloud ERP has not been fully implemented yet, the results may reflect more of perceived usefulness of this technology. The authors have attempted to understand the effect of SBC as a moderator in the relationship between cloud ERP and organizational performance which may not be the only moderator affecting this relationship among other potential moderators.Originality/valueThis paper empirically validates the theoretical framework based on the contingent RBV theory as it mitigates the static nature of the resource-based view approach suggested in the seminal article of Barney (1991).

Strategic synergies and perspectives of their evaluation in theprocess of strategic analysis

Although the subject of synergy has been explored for a long time, there are many indications that it is still gaining in importance, in the field of economics. The phenomenon of synergy seems particularly important in the field of M&A’s, alliances and the development of new organizational forms of enterprises. Synergy effects are most often evaluated from the operational and very rarely in the strategic, structural perspectives. The aim of the article is to identify and systematize the most important perspectives for synergy effect evaluation in the process of strategic analysis. The identified perspectives will be the starting point of the further research on criteria selection for synergy effects evaluation and will be one of the components of a more complex framework of the process of resource analysis. The research was conceptual, based on a literature review in the fields of methodology of strategic analysis, strategic management and Resource-Based View (RBV) approach. The identification of the structural conditions for synergy effect evaluation, requires focusing on: the subjective scope of the synergy effect analysis, key areas of strategy content and context, with the important role of strategic resources.

Mapping the ‘dynamic capabilities’ scientific landscape, 1990-2015: A bibliometric analysis

During the last few years there has been a rise of academic interest in dynamic capabilities approach. This paper aims to map the literature landscape related to dynamic capabilities research worldwide. The Web of Science Core Collection is used as source of scientific publication data collected from 1990 to 2015. Overall, the results show a significant increase in publications output over time; resource-based view and neoschumpeterian approach as two of the main theoretical roots; Business & Economics and Engineering as the most important research areas; and United States of America and University of California as the main country and academic organization publishing research on dynamic capabilities, respectively. By offering a comprehensive scientific landscape of dynamic capabilities worldwide this paper has aimed to contribute to upcoming academic debates and future related studies.

On value activities and competitive advantage: an empirical study

Chief executive officers (CEOs) of both supplier and distributor firms can create and sustain a distinctive competitive advantage by working with sales managers (SMs) to establish and maintain appropriate capabilities that add value. However, there is not much information in either the marketing or strategic management literature about the process used by SMs and CEOs in developing such capabilities. Using the resource-based view (RBV) approach and the perceptions of CEOs and SMs from industrial distribution firms; a scale has been developed to investigate the importance of a firm's value activities on achieving a competitive value. While several studies have examined the differences in perception between CEOs and SMs with respect to product strategies, empirical studies investigating the value creating activities are almost non-existent. Results developed in this study using the differences in the mean perception scores of CEOs and SMs indicate the importance of the four value activities of supplier relationships, customer relationships, competitor relationships, and top management activities. The theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed. Future research directions are presented.

On value activities and competitive advantage: an empirical study

Chief executive officers (CEOs) of both supplier and distributor firms can create and sustain a distinctive competitive advantage by working with sales managers (SMs) to establish and maintain appropriate capabilities that add value. However, there is not much information in either the marketing or strategic management literature about the process used by SMs and CEOs in developing such capabilities. Using the resource-based view (RBV) approach and the perceptions of CEOs and SMs from industrial distribution firms; a scale has been developed to investigate the importance of a firm's value activities on achieving a competitive value. While several studies have examined the differences in perception between CEOs and SMs with respect to product strategies, empirical studies investigating the value creating activities are almost non-existent. Results developed in this study using the differences in the mean perception scores of CEOs and SMs indicate the importance of the four value activities of supplier relationships, customer relationships, competitor relationships, and top management activities. The theoretical and managerial implications of the findings are discussed. Future research directions are presented.

Exploring a developing tourism industry: a resource-based view approach

ABSTRACTThis exploratory study examines dimensions related to tourism development in the case of Uruguay. Internal and external analyses were conducted to identify key resources to maximise opportunities and minimise threats to the country’s tourism development. The study, which adopts the resource-based view of the firm, is based on the perspectives of key tourism stakeholders. Unstructured, face-to-face interviews were conducted with eight key informants, three representing government institutions, three private, and two public–private. The interviews revealed opportunities in various fronts, primarily consolidating and expanding international markets, and developing additional offerings, including convention/event and heritage tourism to minimise the effects of seasonality. Strong dependence on neighbouring markets, marginal airline connectivity, and knowledge of Uruguay internationally were main perceived barriers to further development. The value of employing the resource-based framework in guiding understanding of the themes under investigation was confirmed. Implications emerging from the findings are discussed and future research directions suggested.

Firm Resources, Core Competencies and Sustainable Competitive Advantage: An Integrative Theoretical Framework

A number of studies based on the Resource Based View (RBV) consider resources as the only sources of gaining a source of a firm’s sustainable competitive advantage. According to the RBV approach, there are qualities that resources must possess in order for them to realize sustainable competitive advantage for a firm. The resources must be valuable, rare, inimitable and immobile across firms. Since resources are more often common than rare, more homogenous than heterogeneous and more mobile than immobile, then firms have to combine the resources in order to develop rare and difficult to imitate processes that will act as a source of sustainable competitive advantage. In an industry where resources are common and mobile, a firm therefore needs to build competencies in order to convert these common and mobile resources into processes that are rare and immobile to create a source of sustainable competitive advantage for the firm. A problem therefore exists for firms in a homogenous industry where resources are shared and are neither rare nor heterogeneous across firms in the industry to develop sources of sustainable competitive advantage. In order for these firms to develop sources of competitive advantage with the resources available to them, they would need to develop core competencies to turn the non rare homogenous resources into rare and heterogeneous processes that competitors cannot imitate. The development of these competencies is the product of organizational cultures and values formed over time which can be explained by institutional theory. Further, a firm may not own the resources they need to form a source of sustainable competitive advantage. These resources may be owned by other firms not controlled by the firm in need of these resources which is a premise of the institutional theory. While this is acknowledged from the existing literature, there is also lack of an integrated theoretical model to demonstrate how diverse theories explaining firm strategic behaviour may be utilized to enable firms build sustainable competitive advantage. This paper proposes an integrated theoretical model for linking firm resources with core competencies and sustainable competitive advantage while providing for the role of the firm’s external environment. The proposed model integrates the postulates of the RBV, RDT, Institutional Theory and Porter’s five forces Model. The emerging theoretical propositions and implications for future research are discussed.

Engineering information technology value in IT-based industries using partial adjustment valuation and resource-based view approach

This paper provides a study concerning IT value substance in IT-based industries. The applied method is a partial adjustment valuation approach, expressing that the real output is part of the preferred output. Thus, there should be a coefficient between both, which shakes the relationship in between, called a speed of adjustment. To examine the method, this theory experimented six Indonesian IT-based firms through two cases: three-factor K, L, and I and two-factor K and L models. Here K = regular capital, L = labour expense, and I = IT spending. The results disclose dissimilarities between the two cases, the three-factor model retains performance ratios superior to the two-factor model. This deviation leads to a comprehension that the value of IT is tangible in improving business performances. Consequently, the performance variables will be material to evaluate the role of IT in the firm. Thus, open for the IT value engineering study to develop further.

A Longitudinal study of the U.S. Biotechnology Industry:Which Resources Matter to Firm Innovation?

Taking resource-based view (RBV) approach, we propose that the resources that a firm owns and has full control (firm level resources) and resources that a firm accesses through direct connection with other firms (network level resources) will impact firm innovation when effectively deployed by the firm. While previous research examined these factors separately, we take a holistic view and look into their effects on innovation simultaneously. We also introduce boundary conditions which can enhance firm innovation through their interaction with internal and external resources. Accordingly, we tested the role of financial resources and slack resources in the form of available slack and human slack at the firm level, and network size, network tie strength, and network diversity at the network level on the firm innovation. Our analysis of 306 firms from biotechnology industry over a span of 17 years suggests that available slack impact innovation negatively. However, this link is moderated by firm size such th...

Outsourcing of strategic resources and capabilities: opposing choices in the commercial aircraft manufacturing

Purpose– This paper aims to address the questions of different outsourcing strategies between Airbus and Boeing and point out the theoretical limits of the resource-based view (RBV) approach that must be broadened with a finance perspective. Owing to the complexity of systems, the aircraft industry is nowadays structured around a well-organised value chain of product development and manufacturing. However, according to the RBV, capabilities attached to some systems and components are strategic resources and must be kept in house to maintain competitive advantage. In commercial aircraft avionics, critical systems such as flight controls fall directly under this rule, due to substantial risks of passenger safety they deal with.Design/methodology/approach– This study is based on two comparative studies concerning the A330/340 and A350 programmes at Airbus and their equivalents at Boeing, the B777 and the B787. The data are both primary (financial and patent data) and secondary (semi-structured interviews and documentation.Findings– The main result highlights the limits of the RBV model to understand why Airbus has chosen to re-internalise the development and production of flight control systems contrary to Boeing. For both, cost reduction is the main objective of outsourcing, but European firms are more careful with critical resources. The financialisation of aircraft manufacturers’ strategies is another explanatory factor relevant to understand why Boeing outsources strategic resources such as flight controls.Research limitations/implications– The authors demonstrate the potential of multiplication of research methods to address a question. Second, they try to bring together different theories in a preliminary effort, which gives them some promising stuffy perspective for future works.Practical implications– By addressing both the RBV and the financialisation perspectives, the authors provide an interesting view of the COmplex Products and Systems (CoPS) challenges.Social implications– The findings of this research must provide key of interpretation for business managers, which may consider the two faces, knowledge management and financial, to explain corporate performance.Originality/value– Several originalities are relevant in this work. From a methodological point of view, the authors offer a comparison between the two main players of commercial aircraft manufacturing, an oligopolistic industry. Second, the data they choose to rely on are both qualitative and quantitative to strengthen the results. Third, at a micro level, this study is original in its approach of linking outsourcing to financialisation.

Accrual accounting and performance measurement: Empirical evidences from two Italian municipalities

In the last years, the introduction of advanced management systems in local governments, through a substantial renewal process of these entities, has generated a new debate in literature in reference to the effects produced by the implementation of such management tools typically applied to the private sector. In particular, this paper aims to explore the way in which the use of accrual accounting supports performance measurement tools used by local governments, adopting the Resource-based view approach. Considered the debate on the effects related to the introduction of the accrual accounting system and the role of accounting information to measure performance in the local governments, it has been conducted a comparative analysis of two Italian municipalities in order to identify the relationship between these two management tools. Case analysis highlighted the fact that accrual accounting system does not always support a more complete process of performance measurement and competences and organization’s resources in the use of accounting data and information affect this process. Results also show that the introduction and use of managerial systems require a profound change of organizational culture which should be accepted by most of the members of the organization.

Strategic human resource management: Insights from the international hotel industry

In the strategic human resource management (SHRM) field three approaches have dominated, namely, the universal or best-practice, best-fit or contingency and resource-based view (RBV). This study investigates evidence for the simultaneous or mixed adoption of these approaches by eight case study firms in the international hotel industry. Findings suggest there is considerable evidence of the combined use of the first two approaches but that the SHRM RBV approach was difficult to achieve by all companies. Overall, gaining differentiation through SHRM practices was found to be challenging due to specific industry forces. The study identifies that where companies derive some competitive advantage from their human resources and HRM practices they have closely aligned their managers’ expertise with their corporate market entry mode expertise and developed some distinctive, complex and integrated HRM interventions, which have a mutually reinforcing effect.

A conceptual framework for mitigating supply chain uncertainties and risks in the courier industry

Supply chain risk and uncertainty is an issue in supply chain and logistics. Due to increased globalisation, higher customer expectations, and environment volatility, supply chains are more easily exposed to risks. This study proposes a resource-based view approach to manage the supply chain risks and uncertainties. Risk and uncertainty are often used interchangeably. And managers have to deal with both uncertainty and risk simultaneously. Based on the resource-based view, logistics capability can achieve competitive advantages. This may improve the logistics performance. In contrast, supply chain risk and uncertainty influence decision makers and logistics performance. This paper, therefore, gives an attempt to develop a conceptual framework to examine the applicability of logistics capabilities for mitigating supply chain risks and uncertainties in the courier industry. This would result in the development of a practical guidance for managers developing and deploying logistics capabilities to support and enable their supply chain risk management strategies.

Eu business-to-business trade contacts in waste management: a natural resource-based view approach

This study analyzes the “Sewage and refuse disposal and sanitation” industry (Waste) as a producer of services able to break down its negative externalities and transform them into an asset flow for competitive advantage. The conceptual lens used is the resource-based view (R-BV) of the firm and in particular its spill-over, the “natural” R-BV. For EU-27 countries of the last decade, the Ghosh’s input-output model is applied to identify the valuable relationships concerning sale intermediate trade contacts (ITC). Furthermore Gini index and Lorenz curve demonstrate that Waste resource is quite concentrated and thus rare. This result suggests the necessity of developing initiatives aiming to strengthen the partnership between businesses, enhancing the sale-network profitability.

New Institutional Economics: Complementary Aspects

The purpose of this article was to understand how the theoretical assumptions of the micro analytical level of New Institutional Economics (NIE), encompassing the Resource-Based View (RBV), the Transaction Cost Economics (TCE), and associated to the Economic Costs Measurement (ECM), might influence the choice of governance structures of companies. The method used was a literature review and descriptive research. Parallel to these theories, the RBV approach was chosen in order to discuss the relationship with the boundaries of the firm, and to identify the complementary aspects between these theoretical issues. The results showed that, when these approaches are considered together, it is evident that the possession and maintenance of strategic resources (VBR) characterizes property rights that need to be protected by legal mechanisms (ECT and ECM), able to minimize their loss of value, and secure property rights. Ultimately, the sustainability of a competitive advantage will be through structures that consider the presence of specific assets (ECT), measurability (ECM), and condition for competitiveness (VBR).

Nova Economia Institucional: Vertentes Complementares

The purpose of this article was to understand how the theoretical assumptions of the micro analytical level of New Institutional Economics (NIE), encompassing the Resource-Based View (RBV), the Transaction Cost Economics (TCE), and associated to the Economic Costs Measurement (ECM), might influence the choice of governance structures of companies. The method used was a literature review and descriptive research. Parallel to these theories, the RBV approach was chosen in order to discuss the relationship with the boundaries of the firm, and to identify the complementary aspects between these theoretical issues. The results showed that, when these approaches are considered together, it is evident that the possession and maintenance of strategic resources (VBR) characterizes property rights that need to be protected by legal mechanisms (ECT and ECM), able to minimize their loss of value, and secure property rights. Ultimately, the sustainability of a competitive advantage will be through structures that consider the presence of specific assets (ECT), measurability (ECM), and condition for competitiveness (VBR).

The technological evolution of food traceability systems and their impact on firm sustainable performance: A RBV approach

This paper presents a theoretical framework grounded on the Resource Based View (RBV) of the firm to determine the strategic impacts from the technological evolution of food traceability systems. By viewing food traceability systems as unique resources embedded in firms' routines, the research aims to establish the effects of technological innovations on firm sustainable performance. We empirically test our theoretical framework using data from an online survey to UK food companies that have implemented technological innovations in their traceability systems. Regression analysis supports our overall hypothesis that firms gain sustainable competitive advantage by innovating food traceability systems. Technological innovations in human resources are a major source of improved sustainable performance as they make the resource non-substitutable in the short and medium term. This article provides important policy implications for regulators and businesses as food traceability systems become integral to ensure food supply chain integrity. Regulatory interventions do not drive the technological evolution of food traceability systems; innovation relates to the idiosyncratic situation of the firm, making firms to compete to obtain the right non-substitutable resources, particularly human, to work with regulators.

The determinants affecting the internationalisation of the Italian SMEs producing sparkling wines: an empirical study on the RBV of the firms

In the last few years, wine industry has been characterised by profound changes that have determined an intensification of competition on a global scale. The aim of this study is to identify the firms’ internal factors that most influence the export intensity and the ability to fit into the international market of the Italian wineries producing sparkling wines through a resource-based view (RBV) approach. Results of our study supporting the findings of previous empirical researches presented in this paper. In particular, the main factors affecting export intensity are: innovation degree and intensity of investment in advertising and promotion, among firms’ characteristics, and abroad experience, proficiency of foreign languages, educational level, and perception barriers, among managers’ characteristics.

QUALITY MANAGEMENT CAPABILITY AND FIRM PERFORMANCE: AN EMPIRICAL INVESTIGATION OF ISO 9000 CERTIFIED FIRMS IN THAILAND

ABSTRACT Quality management capability has been viewed as one of key components that influence organizational outcomes. Drawing on the resource-based view approach and contingency theory, the objective of the study is to investigate the relationships among quality management capability and its antecedents, consequences, and firm performance and also to explore the moderating effects of learning capability. The results were derived from a survey of 214 ISO 9000 certified firms in Thailand which provided the interesting points of quality management capability and which was not directly associated with firm performance. The hypothesized relationships among variables are examined by using ordinary least square (OLS) regression analysis. Results suggest that some dimensions of quality management capability are a positive influence on consequences of quality management capability. In addition, organizational risk reduction and business excellence have a positive influence on firm performance. Leaning capability was a moderator of the relationships among top management vision and some dimensions of quality management capability. Moreover, theoretical and managerial contributions, conclusion, and suggestions for future research are also discussed. Keywords Quality Management Capability, Organizational Productivity, Customer Response, Organizational Risk Reduction, Business Excellence, Top Management Vision, Technical Knowledge Management, Limited Resource, Stakeholder Pressure, and Learning Capability

An Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) evaluation of the statistical adequacy of the strategic management model

This paper attempts to confirm the adequacy of the strategic management model using the structural equation modeling (SEM) method. The model adopted the resource-based view (RBV) approach to identify competitive strength. The RBV method states that organizations with the right resources coupled with the appropriate management skills and capabilities will develop competitive strength and organizational performance. Results generated by AMOS graphics v. 18, an SEM statistical software, confirm the adequacy of the model for companies engaged in the industrial products sector. Financial strength was found to be a better predictor of competitive advantage than management strength. The results also confirm that competitive advantage has a positive impact on the profitability and performance of organizations.