IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/wly/mgtdec/v24y2003i4p309-323.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Unraveling the resource-based tangle

Author

Listed:
  • Margaret A. Peteraf

    (Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth, 100 Tuck Hall, Hanover, NH 03755, USA)

  • Jay B. Barney

    (Bank One Chair for Excellence in Corporate Strategy, Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University, 860A Fisher Hall, 2100 Neil Ave., Columbus, OH 43210-1144, USA)

Abstract

Resource-based theory (RBT) is a prime example of a theory that integrates a management perspective with an economics perspective. As such, its challenge is to keep its arguments logically consistent and clear, despite the risk of their becoming entangled, due to competing and possibly conflicting theoretical influences. We argue, in this paper, that to meet this challenge, it is essential to understand the limits to the domain of RBT. Unless RBT is understood as a resource-level and efficiency-oriented analytical tool, its contribution cannot be understood and appreciated fully. Incorporating aspects of economic theory that fall outside this domain will not increase its power and will only add to the confusion. Continued efforts to increase the analytic precision of RBT and to elaborate its economic logic, however, are worthwhile pursuits. To these aims, then, we provide a sharper definition of competitive advantage, linking this term to value creation and to demand side concerns. Similarly, we provide an economically meaningful definition of value and more precise definitions of critical resources and of economic rents. This allows us to trace a clearer trail of logic, consistent with both the management and the economics perspectives, leading from critical resources to the generation of rents. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Margaret A. Peteraf & Jay B. Barney, 2003. "Unraveling the resource-based tangle," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(4), pages 309-323.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:24:y:2003:i:4:p:309-323
    DOI: 10.1002/mde.1126
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1002/mde.1126
    File Function: Link to full text; subscription required
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/mde.1126?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Demsetz, Harold, 1973. "Industry Structure, Market Rivalry, and Public Policy," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 16(1), pages 1-9, April.
    2. Schmalensee, Richard, 1985. "Do Markets Differ Much?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 75(3), pages 341-351, June.
    3. Jay B. Barney, 1986. "Strategic Factor Markets: Expectations, Luck, and Business Strategy," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(10), pages 1231-1241, October.
    4. David J. Teece & Gary Pisano & Amy Shuen, 1997. "Dynamic capabilities and strategic management," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 18(7), pages 509-533, August.
    5. Edward H. Bowman & Constance E. Helfat, 2001. "Does corporate strategy matter?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(1), pages 1-23, January.
    6. Oster, Sharon M., 1999. "Modern Competitive Analysis," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, edition 3, number 9780195119411.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chen, Yi-Min, 2010. "The continuing debate on firm performance: A multilevel approach to the IT sectors of Taiwan and South Korea," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 63(5), pages 471-478, May.
    2. Moses Acquaah & Tailan Chi, 2007. "A longitudinal analysis of the impact of firm resources and industry characteristics on firm-specific profitability," Journal of Management & Governance, Springer;Accademia Italiana di Economia Aziendale (AIDEA), vol. 11(3), pages 179-213, September.
    3. Stoelhorst, J. W. & van Raaij, Erik M., 2004. "On explaining performance differentials: Marketing and the managerial theory of the firm," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 57(5), pages 462-477, May.
    4. Yi-Min Chen, 2008. "How Much Does Country Matter?," International Regional Science Review, , vol. 31(4), pages 404-435, October.
    5. Iman Seoudi & Matthias Huehn & Bo Carlsson, 2008. "Penrose Revisited: A Re-Appraisal of the Resource Perspective," Working Papers 14, The German University in Cairo, Faculty of Management Technology.
    6. Galbreath, Jeremy & Galvin, Peter, 2008. "Firm factors, industry structure and performance variation: New empirical evidence to a classic debate," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 61(2), pages 109-117, February.
    7. Lai, Richard, 2007. "Inventory and the Shape of the Earth," MPRA Paper 4754, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    8. Nikolaos G. Theriou & Vassilis Aggelidis & Georgios N. Theriou, 2009. "A Theoretical Framework Contrasting the Resource-Based Perspective and the Knowledge-Based View," European Research Studies Journal, European Research Studies Journal, vol. 0(3), pages 177-190.
    9. Chang, Seoyon & Kim, Seongcheol, 2018. "The Influence of Corporate Strategy for Multi-Channel Network on Firm Performance: Make, Buy, or Ally?," 22nd ITS Biennial Conference, Seoul 2018. Beyond the boundaries: Challenges for business, policy and society 190395, International Telecommunications Society (ITS).
    10. Arend, Richard J., 2009. "Industry effects and firm effects: No effect is an island," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 62(6), pages 651-659, June.
    11. Mariko Sakakibara & Hideki Yamawaki, 2008. "What determines the profitability of foreign direct investment? A subsidiary-level analysis of Japanese multinationals," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2-3), pages 277-292.
    12. Markus A. Fitza, 2014. "The use of variance decomposition in the investigation of CEO effects: How large must the CEO effect be to rule out chance?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 35(12), pages 1839-1852, December.
    13. Roller, Lars-Hendrik & Sinclair-Desgagne, Bernard, 1996. "On the heterogeneity of firms," European Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 40(3-5), pages 531-539, April.
    14. Pankaj Kumar & Xiaojin Liu & Akbar Zaheer, 2022. "How much does the firm's alliance network matter?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 43(8), pages 1433-1468, August.
    15. Frederik Banning & Jessica Reale & Michael Roos, 2023. "The Complexity of Corporate Culture as a Potential Source of Firm Profit Differentials," Papers 2305.14029, arXiv.org, revised Nov 2023.
    16. Ricart, Joan E. & Enright, Michael J. & Ghemawat, Pankaj & Khanna, Tarun & Hart, Stuart L., 2003. "New frontiers in international strategy," IESE Research Papers D/532, IESE Business School.
    17. Jerker Denrell, 2004. "Random Walks and Sustained Competitive Advantage," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 50(7), pages 922-934, July.
    18. A. Arrighetti & R. Brancati & A. Lasagni & A. Maresca, 2015. "Firms’ heterogeneity and performance in manufacturing during the great recession," Economics Department Working Papers 2015-EP03, Department of Economics, Parma University (Italy).
    19. Mena, Jeannette A. & Hult, G. Tomas M. & Ferrell, O.C. & Zhang, Yufei, 2019. "Competing assessments of market-driven, sustainability-centered, and stakeholder-focused approaches to the customer-brand relationships and performance," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 531-543.
    20. Francesco Castellaneta & Oliver Gottschalg, 2016. "Does ownership matter in private equity? The sources of variance in buyouts' performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(2), pages 330-348, February.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:wly:mgtdec:v:24:y:2003:i:4:p:309-323. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/7976 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.