Abstract
As outlined in chapter 2, the importance of firm resources for gaining rents, i.e., the RBT, seems no longer questionable in theory, but empirical evidence on its role in strategic management is still in progress. In other words, RBT has become theoretically established in strategic management, yet, the question where we empirically stand is still to be resolved.246 Whether the central propositions of RBT withstand — overall — empirical testing is still a question unanswered, as is the query whether these empirical results might even revise RBT in general.
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References
Cf. Wernerfelt (1995), p. 171f; Hoskisson et al. (1999), p. 437ff; Ambrosini/Bowman (2001), p. 825.
Cf. Eisenhardt (1989), p. 549.
Barney (2001), p. 42.
In retrieving a representative sample of empirical RBT articles, I followed David and Han’s (2004) systematics within their comprehensive review on transaction cost economics. Cf. David/ Han (2004), p. 42ff.
Cf. Light/ Pillemer (1984), p. 35.
Cf. Hunter/ Schmidt (1990), p. 507ff.
David/ Han (2004), p. 42 citing Cooper (1989), p. 58, while the emphases are added by David and Han.
Cf. Wernerfelt (1984).
Cf. Kyle et al. (2004).
Kyle et al. (2004), p. 99, capital letters added.
At this point, David and Han (2004) decided to further include keywords that would distinguish between theoretical and empirical articles, i.e., they included additional keywords such as DATA, TEST, STATISTICAL, etc. Cf. David/ Han (2004), p. 43. I followed their advice and tried to include these additional keywords, yet, after checking the results within the database for relevant RBT studies which have been frequently cited, important studies were missing, e.g., Knott (2003), Sharma and Vredenburg (1998), or Miller and Shamsie (1996). Thus, I decided not to include these keywords.
Cf. David/ Han (2004), p. 43.
Gylfason (2001), p. 558, capital letters added.
Also, the article of Yu and Krishnan (2004) within the Information Systems Journal discusses RESOURCE-BASED agents in the context of a conceptual framework for agent-based agile manufacturing cells and argues different PERFORMANCE effects of these agents, which is obviously not a RBT-related contribution. Cf. Yu/ Krishnan (2004), p. 93. And similarly, Nie (2003) within Policy Science explores the drivers of natural RESOURCE-BASED political conflicts, focusing on what factors turn “...the common political conflict into the high-level, symbolic, and SUSTAINED political conflict?” Nie (2003), p. 307, capital letters added.
Cf. Priem/ Butler (2001), p. 33.
Cf. Markman et al. (2004), p. 540.
Cf. Wernerfelt (1995), p. 172.
Cf. Barney/ Arikan (2001), p. 146.
Cf. Hansen/ Wernerfelt (1989); Rumelt (1991); Ingram/Baum (1997); Mauri/Michaels (1998). “This brings us to our major result that firm effects exist in the form of positive focus effects. That is, some differences in performance can be explained by efficiency differences firms experience in transferring competencies to widely varying markets. Interpreted in this way, this finding not only supports the revisionist view, it enriches it, since it also tells us something about the sources of efficiency differences.” Wernerfelt/Montgomery (1988), p. 250.
Cf. De Carolis/ Deeds (1999); Hoopes/Postrel (1999); Schroeder et al. (2002); Berman et al. (2002); De Carolis (2003); Carmeli/Tishler (2004a+b); Markman et al. (2004); Ray et al. (2004).
Cf. De Carolis (2003); Spanos/Lioukas (2001); Tripsas (1997).
Cf. Bates/ Flynn (1995); Christmann (2000); Schroeder et al. (2002).
Cf. De Carolis (2003); Spanos/Lioukas (2001).
Cf. Kraatz/ Zajac (2001); De Saá-Pérez/García-Falcón (2002); Spanos/Lioukas (2001).
Cf. Borch et al. (1999); Gulati (1999); McEvily/Zaheer (1999).
Cf. Carmeli/ Tishler (2004a+b); Combs/Ketchen (1999); Deephouse (2000); Rao (1994).
Cf. Carmeli/ Tishler (2004a+b); Chan et al. (2004); Zahra et al. (2004).
Cf. Bergh (2001); Combs/Ketchen (1999); Roth (1995).
Cf. Delaney/ Huselid (1996); Harel/Tzafir (1999); Khatri (2000); Koch/McGrath (1996).
Cf. Bennett et al. (1998); Combs/Ketchen (1999); McGrath et al. (1995).
Cf. Coff (1999), p. 144.
Coff (1999), p. 145.
Cf. Dutta et al. (2003), p. 619.
Cf. Miller/ Shamsie (1996), p. 523.
Cf. Hansen/ Wernerfelt (1989); Hitt et al. (1997); Jiang/Beamish (2004); Robins/Wiersema (1995).
For example, Douglas and Ryman (2003) examine the drivers of competitive advantage within the hospital industry, concentrating among others on firm-specific competencies. In order to evaluate the hospital and physician group resource endowments with regard to their relative strategic value, they utilized highly qualified industry experts. Cf. Douglas/ Ryman (2003), p. 338.
Cf. Rouse/ Daellenbach (2002), p. 964.
De Saá-Pérez/ Gárcia-Falcón (2004), p. 54.
Cf. Bharadwaj (2000), p. 176.
Cf. Powell/ Dent-Michallef (1997), p. 379f.
Cf. Deephouse (2000), p. 1092f.
Cf. Miller/ Shamsie (1996), p. 532.
Cf. Rao (1994), p. 36.
Cf. Gulati (1999), p. 405.
Cf. De Carolis (2003), p. 39.
Cf. Coff (2002), p. 125.
Cf. Carmeli/ Tishler (2004a), p. 306f and (2004b) 1264f.
Cf. Combs/ Ketchen (1999), p. 877.
Cf. Schilling/ Steensma (2002), p. 397.
Cf. Welbourne/ Andrews (1996), p. 901.
Cf. Maijoor/ Witteloostuijn (1996), p. 555.
Cf. Bennett et al. (1998), p. 9.
Cf. Steensma/ Fairbank (1999), p. 28; Schilling/Steensma (2002), p. 397.
Cf. Markman et al. (2004), p. 535f.
Cf. McEvily/ Chakravarthy (2002), p. 295.
Cf. Kogut/ Zander (1993), p. 641.
Cf. Hatch/ Dyer (2004), p. 1167.
Cf. Markman et al. (2004), p. 536f.
Cf. Maijoor/ Witteloostuijn (1996), p. 555.
Deephouse (2000), p. 1099. Deephouse (2000) includes measures of product market position and tests to see if they attenuate the effect of media reputation on performance.
Cf. Borch et al. (1999); Carmeli (2004); De Carolis (2003); Hatch/Dyer (2004); King/Zeithaml (2001); Knott (2003); Kogut/Zander (1993); Maijoor/Witteloostuijn (1996); Markides/Williamson (1996); Markman et al. (2004); McEvily/Chakravarthy (2002); Schilling/Steensma (2002); Deephouse (2000).
Cf. Carmeli (2001, 2004); Maijoor/Witteloostuijn (1996). Within their empirical RBT study, Markman et al. (2004) came to similar results: “For example, our review of top-tiered management journals could not identify an empirical study in which a single resource was operationalized, concurrently, as valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable. This was surprising because according to resource-based view (RBV) an advantage that is derived from anything less than all four attributes would quickly be neutralized. Others point out that the practical utility of valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable resources remains open to discussion until researchers and managers measure the extent to which such resources are related to superior performance.” Markman et al. (2004), p. 530.
Cf. Cronbach (1951); Nunnally (1978).
“Superior resources are more ‘efficient’ in the sense that they enable a firm to produce more economically and/or better satisfy customer wants. In other words, firms with superior resources can deliver greater benefits to their customers for a given cost (or can deliver the same benefit levels for a lower cost). Note that this is a broad view of ‘efficiency’ in that it is concerned not just with lowering costs, but also with creating greater value or net benefits (Peteraf, 2001).” Peteraf/Barney (2003), p. 311.
Marshall et al. (1975), p. 10.
Cf. Ray et al. (2004); Pisano (1994); Knott et al. (2003); Miller/Shamsie (1996); De Carolis (2003); Combs/Ketchen (1999); Christmann (2000); Sakakibara (2002).
Marshall et al. (1975), p. 11.
Cf. Marshall et al. (1975), p. 11.
Cf. McEvily/ Zaheer (1999); Tripsas (1997); Kraatz/Zajac (2001); Morris (1997); De Carolis (2003); Carmeli/Tishler (2004a+b); Powell (1995); Ray et al. (2004); Richard/Johnson (2001); McGrath et al. (1996).
Levitas/ Chi (2002), p. 960.
Cf. Schilling/ Steensma (2002); Rao (1994); Miller/Shamsie (1996).
Cf. Maijoor/ Witteloostuijn (1996); Steensma/Fairbank (1999); Schilling/Steensma (2002); Bennett et al. (1998).
Cf. Combs/ Ketchen (1999); Sharma/Vredenburg (1998).
Cf. King/ Zeithaml (2001); McEvily/Chakravarthy (2002); Markman et al. (2004); Schilling/Steensma (2002); Zander/Kogut (1995); Kogut/Zander (1993).
Cf. Deephouse (2000).
Cf. Markman et al. (2004); Maijoor/Witteloostuijn (1996).
For a comprehensive discussion on the determinants of organizational performance from a multidisciplinary perspective, see Lenz (1981).
Cf. Borch et al. (1999); Chatterjee/Singh (1999); Dussauge et al. (2000); Steensma/Corley (2001).
Cf. King/ Zeithaml (2001), p. 79.
Cf. Makhija (2003), p. 444.
Cf. Wiggins/ Ruefli (2002), p. 84.
Cf. Wiggins/ Ruefli (2002), p. 86; Anand/Singh (1997), p. 110; Farjoun (1998), p. 619; Combs/Ketchen (1999), p. 878; Daily et al. (2000), p. 519; Huselid (1995), p. 652.
Cf. Montgomery/ Wernerfelt (1988), p. 626. For more details see chapter 3.2.2.2.
Cf. Dutta et al. (2003), p. 615f.
Cf. Capron (1999), p. 996f.
Cf. McEvily/ Chakravarthy (2002), p. 294f.
Cf. Gimeno (1999), p. 114.
Cf. March/ Sutton (1997), p. 698.
Cf. Venkatraman/ Ramanujam (1986), p. 803f.
Cf. Combs et al. (2005), p. 269.
Cf. Combs et al. (2005), p. 267. Interactive outcomes of all value chain activities were, however, coded as organizational performance. For more details on Porter’s value chain concept, see chapter 2.2.2.
Cf. De Saá-Pérez/ Gárcia-Falcón (2004), p. 58.
Cf. McEvily/ Chakravarthy (2002), p. 294ff.
Cf. McGrath et al. (1995), p. 258.
Cf. Ray et al. (2004), p. 31f.
Ray et al. (2004), p. 24.
Cf. Anand/ Singh (1997); Bennett et al. (1998); Brews/Hunt (1999); Combs/Ketchen (1999); Dhanaraj/Beamish (2003); Fey et al. (2000); Lee/Miller (1999); Powell (1995); Powell/Dent-Micallef (1997); Ray et al. (2004); Wright et al. (1998).
Cf. Ray et al. (2004), p. 31f.
Cf. Bennett et al. (1998), p. 6f.
Cf. Brews/ Hunt (1999), p. 895.
Cf. Powell (1995), p. 25.
Cf. Wright et al. (1998), p. 22.
Cf. March/ Sutton (1997), p. 698; Chakravarthy (1986), p. 444.
Cf. Barnett et al. (1994), p. 12.
Cf. Daily et al. (2000), p. 519.
Cf. Anand/ Singh (1997), p. 108.
Cf. Deephouse (1999), p. 156.
Cf. March/ Sutton (1997), p. 699.
Cf. McGrath et al. (1995), p. 260.
Cf. Bennett et al. (1998), p. 10.
Cf. Venkatraman/ Ramanujam (1986), p. 804.
Cf. Venkatraman/ Ramanujam (1986), p. 808ff.
Cf. Venkatraman/ Ramanujam (1986), p. 805.
Similarly, Chakravarthy (1986) concludes in his study on measuring strategic performance differences within the computer industry that conventional profitability criteria are incapable of distinguishing differences in strategic performances and thus other criteria need to be evaluated to differentiate between “excellent” and “non-excellent” firms. Cf. Chakravarthy (1986), p. 442.
Cf. Combs et al. (2005), p. 274. “... an unidimensional composite of a multidimensional concept such as business performance tends to mask the underlying relationships among the different subdimensions.” Venkatraman/Ramanujam (1986), p. 807. “... instead of searching for that single measure which most significantly determines performance, a multi-factor model of performance should be used [...] ‘excellence’ is a complex phenomenon requiring more than a single criterion to define it.” Chakravarthy (1986), p. 446. “No single profitability measure seems capable of discriminating excellence. Moreover, accounting data that are typically used to construct these measures capture past performance or historical trends. Strategic performance needs a more futuristic measure.” Chakravarthy (1986), p. 453. Chakravarthy suggests that excellence “is not reflected in the maximization of performance along any single dimension, but rather in the ability of the firm to simultaneously maintain several performance parameters within safe limits.” Chakravarthy (1986), p. 455.
Cf. Venkatraman/ Ramanujam (1986), p. 812. See Bagozzi (1980) and Joreskog/Sorbom (1979) for an overview of structural equation models, as well as Venkatraman/Ramanujam (1986).
Cf. Montgomery/ Wernerfelt (1988), p. 626.
Chakravarthy (1986), p. 443.
Cf. Chakravarthy (1986), p. 444.
Cf. Montgomery/ Wernerfelt (1988), p. 627.
Cf. Fisher/ McGowan (1983), p. 82. For q calculating procedures see Lindenberg/Ross (1981), p. 10f.
Cf. Rouse/ Daellenbach (1999), p. 489.
Cf. Rouse/ Daellenbach (2002), p. 966.
Cf. Dess/ Beard (1984), p. 53f.
Cf. Robins/ Wiersema (1995), p. 281; Wiggins/Ruefli (2002), p. 87f.
Industry concentration as an industry structure variable according to Porter (1980), considers the number and the size distribution of competing firms within an industry. Cf. Porter (1980).
Cf. Dess/ Beard (1984), p. 55; Kotha/Nair (1995), p. 499. See also chapter 2.3.3.3.
Cf. Dess/ Beard (1984), p. 56. Kotha and Nair (1995) refer to an additional term within their conceptualization of environmental uncertainty, i.e., technological change. Yet, since their arguments basically refer to states of environmental change, their notion is included within the concept of dynamism. Cf. Kotha/Nair (1995), p. 499.
Cf. Keats/ Hitt (1988), p. 579.
Cf. Keats/ Hitt (1988), p. 579; Dess/Beard (1984), p. 56; Aldrich (1979), p. 72. For example, “organizations competing in industries that require many different inputs or that produce many different outputs should find resource acquisition or disposal of output more complex than organizations competing in industries with fewer different inputs and outputs.” Dess/Beard (1984), p. 57.
Cf. Kotha/ Nair (1995), p. 499; Dess/Beard (1984), p. 58. Note that these three indicators for environmental uncertainty can be interconnected. Keats and Hitt (1988), for instance, adopt an indicator for the complexity dimension from Grossack’s (1965) dynamic measure of industry concentration, which provides for comparability across a variety of diverse industry environments. For more details, see Keats/Hitt (1988), p. 596f.
Cf. Bennett et al. (1998), p. 9.
Cf. Majoor/ Witteloostuijn (1996), p. 561ff.
Rouse/ Daellenbach (1999), p. 491.
Cf. Priem/ Butler (2001), p. 32.
Cf. Priem/ Butler (2001), p. 31f; Godfrey/Hill (1995), p. 530; Rouse/Daellenbach (1999), p. 491.
Cf. Dess et al. (1990), p. 9. “Environments affect organizations through the process of making available or withholding resources, and organizational forms can be ranked in terms of their efficacy in obtaining resources.” Aldrich (1979), p. 61. Also Ambrosini and Bowman (2001) on the subject of resources’ value: “In face of environmental changes tacit skills may become obsolete.” Ambrosini/Bowman (2001), p. 826.
Cf. Priem/ Butler (2001), p. 31; see also Rouse/Daellenbach (1999), p. 489; King/Zeithaml (2001), p. 79; Collis/Montgomery (1995), p. 120.
Cf. Barney (2001), p. 43.
Cf. Combs/ Ketchen (1999), p. 871.
Cf. Sakakibara (2002), p. 1034.
Cf. Brush/ Artz (1999), p. 246. Farjoun (1998), for example, rely on the so-called industry skill profiles: “The first step in building the skill-based classification is the construction of industry skill profiles. To measure human skill requirements, we used the Occupational Employment Survey (OES) conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor Statistics. Indicators of both the different types of human expertise needed in an industry and the extent to which they are required.” Farjoun (1998), p. 616.
Miller et al. (1997), p. 76.
Cf. Miller/ Shamsie (1996).
Cf. Barnett et al. (1994).
Priem/ Butler (2001a), p. 32.
Cf. Barney (2001), p. 47. See Harrigan (1983) for criterion variables useful in segmenting industries.
Cf. Geringer et al. (2000), p. 59f; see also Marcus/Geffen (1998), p. 1147; Van de Ven (1992).
Cf. Keats/ Hitt (1988), p. 580.
Cf. Brews/ Hunt (1999), p. 894.
Cf. Godfrey/ Hill (1995), p. 530.
Barney/ Mackey (2005), p. 4f.
Cf. Combs/ Ketchen (1999), p. 880.
Cf. Markman et al. (2004), p. 539.
Cf. Bennett et al. (1998).
Cf. Maijoor/ Witteloostuijn (1996).
Cf. Brush/ Artz (1999), p. 243.
Brush/ Artz (1999), p. 246.
Knott (2003), p. 929.
Cf. Knott (2003).
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(2008). Review of Empirical Research within RBT. In: Empirical Research within Resource-Based Theory. Gabler. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-8349-9830-9_3
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