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An asymmetry‐based view of advantage: towards an attainable sustainability

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  • Danny Miller

Abstract

The resource‐based view of the firm postulates that sustainable abnormal rents can accrue to firms having valuable, rare, inimitable, non‐substitutable resources and capabilities. Given these criteria, sustainable resources are hard to attain. Our study of some two dozen firms shows how some of them were able to overcome this dilemma by building not so much on resources and capabilities as on asymmetries. Asymmetries are typically skills, processes, or ‘assets’ a firm's competitors do not and cannot copy at a cost that affords economic rents. They are rare, inimitable and non‐substitutable, although not connected to any engine of value creation, and, in fact, often act as liabilities. By discovering and reconceptualizing these asymmetries, embedding them within a complementary organizational design, and leveraging them across appropriate market opportunities, many firms were able to turn asymmetries into sustainable capabilities. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Suggested Citation

  • Danny Miller, 2003. "An asymmetry‐based view of advantage: towards an attainable sustainability," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(10), pages 961-976, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:stratm:v:24:y:2003:i:10:p:961-976
    DOI: 10.1002/smj.316
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    10. Jiang Wei & Ding Wang & Yang Liu, 2018. "Towards an asymmetry-based view of Chinese firms’ technological catch-up," Frontiers of Business Research in China, Springer, vol. 12(1), pages 1-13, December.
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    12. Jeremy Tantely Ranjatoelina & Anne-Ryslène Zaoual, 2015. "Processus d’inclusion de ressources négativement perçues par le marché. Le cas d’un spécialiste de l’insertion par l’activité économique : le groupe Vitamine T," Post-Print hal-01987118, HAL.
    13. Qinwei Cao & Peng Xie & Meng Jiao & Wanchun Duan, 2021. "The larger scientific and technological human scale, the better innovation effect? Evidence from key universities in China," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(7), pages 5623-5649, July.
    14. Steven Shijin Zhou & Peter Ping Li & Abby Jingzi Zhou & Shameen Prashantham, 2020. "The cultural roots of compositional capability in China: balanced moderation," Asia Pacific Journal of Management, Springer, vol. 37(4), pages 1217-1237, December.
    15. Rafał Śliwiński, 2012. "Zasoby kształtujące konkurencyjność polskich przedsiębiorstw," Gospodarka Narodowa. The Polish Journal of Economics, Warsaw School of Economics, issue 4, pages 31-60.
    16. Jérémy Tantely Ranjatoelina & Anne-Ryslène Zaoual, 2016. "The inclusion of wasted resources. The case of a work integration social enterprise [Inclure des ressources délaissées. Le groupe Vitamine T, un spécialiste de l’insertion]," Post-Print hal-01987174, HAL.
    17. Kevin J. Johnson & Joé T. Martineau & Saouré Kouamé & Gokhan Turgut & Serge Poisson-de-Haro, 2018. "On the Unethical Use of Privileged Information in Strategic Decision-Making: The Effects of Peers’ Ethicality, Perceived Cohesion, and Team Performance," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 152(4), pages 917-929, November.
    18. Svetlana V. Orekhova & Ivan A. Butakov, 2022. "Relation-specific investment: Theoretical axioms vs Evidence from Russia," Upravlenets, Ural State University of Economics, vol. 13(6), pages 30-43, January.
    19. Chih-Yi, Su & Bou-Wen, Lin, 2021. "Attack and defense in patent-based competition: A new paradigm of strategic decision-making in the era of the fourth industrial revolution," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 167(C).
    20. Kara, Karahan & Yalçın, Galip Cihan & Acar, Avni Zafer & Simic, Vladimir & Konya, Serkan & Pamucar, Dragan, 2024. "The MEREC-AROMAN method for determining sustainable competitiveness levels: A case study for Turkey," Socio-Economic Planning Sciences, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    21. Amirmahmood Amini Sedeh & Rosa Caiazza & Amir Pezeshkan, 2023. "Unraveling the resource puzzle: exploring entrepreneurial resource management and the quest for new venture success," The Journal of Technology Transfer, Springer, vol. 48(5), pages 1552-1573, October.
    22. Rodgers, Waymond & Degbey, William Y. & Housel, Thomas J. & Arslan, Ahmad, 2020. "Microfoundations of collaborative networks: The impact of social capital formation and learning on investment risk assessment," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    23. Daniel Ruiz-Palomo & Julio Diéguez-Soto & Antonio Duréndez & José António C. Santos, 2019. "Family Management and Firm Performance in Family SMEs: The Mediating Roles of Management Control Systems and Technological Innovation," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(14), pages 1-22, July.
    24. Papazoglou, Michalis E. & Spanos, Yiannis E., 2021. "“Influential knowledge and financial performance: The role of time and rivals’ absorptive capacity”," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 102(C).

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