IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/pra/mprapa/21442.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

The resource-based view: A review and assessment of its critiques

Author

Listed:
  • Kraaijenbrink, Jeroen
  • Spender, JC
  • Groen, Aard

Abstract

The resource-based view (RBV) of the firm has been around for over twenty years - during which time it has been both widely taken up and subjected to considerable criticism. The authors review and assess the principal critiques evident in the literature, arguing they fall into eight categories. They conclude the RBV’s core message can withstand criticism from five of these quite well provided the RBV’s variables, boundaries and applicability are adequately specified. Three critiques that cannot be readily dismissed call for further theorizing and research. They arise from the indeterminate nature of two of the RBV's basic concepts – resource and value – and the narrow conceptualization of a firm's competitive advantage. The authors feel the RBV community has clung to an inappropriately narrow neo-classical economic rationality, thereby diminishing its opportunities for progress. Their suggestions may assist with developing the RBV into a more viable theory of competitive advantage, especially if it is moved into a genuinely dynamic framework.

Suggested Citation

  • Kraaijenbrink, Jeroen & Spender, JC & Groen, Aard, 2009. "The resource-based view: A review and assessment of its critiques," MPRA Paper 21442, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    • Handle: RePEc:pra:mprapa:21442
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/21442/2/MPRA_paper_21442.pdf
    File Function: original version
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bruce Kogut & Udo Zander, 1992. "Knowledge of the Firm, Combinative Capabilities, and the Replication of Technology," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(3), pages 383-397, August.
    2. Foss, Nicolai Juul, 1994. "The Theory of the Firm: The Austrians as Precursors and Critics of Contemporary Theory," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 7(1), pages 31-65.
    3. Andrew H. Van de Ven & Douglas Polley, 1992. "Learning While Innovating," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 3(1), pages 92-116, February.
    4. Ulrich Witt, 2007. "Firms as Realizations of Entrepreneurial Visions," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(7), pages 1125-1140, November.
    5. Kirsten Foss & Nicolai J. Foss & Peter G. Klein, 2006. "Original and Derived Judgment An Entrepreneurial Theory of Economic Organization," DRUID Working Papers 06-09, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    6. R. H. Coase, 2013. "The Problem of Social Cost," Journal of Law and Economics, University of Chicago Press, vol. 56(4), pages 837-877.
    7. Jay B. Barney, 1996. "The Resource-Based Theory of the Firm," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(5), pages 469-469, October.
    8. Saras Sarasvathy & Nicholas Dew, 2005. "New market creation through transformation," Journal of Evolutionary Economics, Springer, vol. 15(5), pages 533-565, November.
    9. Jerker Denrell & Christina Fang & Sidney G. Winter, 2003. "The economics of strategic opportunity," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(10), pages 977-990, October.
    10. Spender, J. -C., 1994. "Organizational knowledge, collective practice and Penrose rents," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 3(4), pages 353-367, December.
    11. Ingemar Dierickx & Karel Cool, 1989. "Asset Stock Accumulation and Sustainability of Competitive Advantage," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 35(12), pages 1504-1511, December.
    12. Jean Tirole, 1988. "The Theory of Industrial Organization," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262200716, April.
    13. Sidney G. Winter & Gabriel Szulanski, 2001. "Replication as Strategy," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 12(6), pages 730-743, December.
    14. Tim R. Holcomb & R. Michael Holmes Jr. & Brian L. Connelly, 2009. "Making the most of what you have: managerial ability as a source of resource value creation," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 457-485, May.
    15. Giovanni Dosi & Marco Faillo & Luigi Marengo, 2003. "Organizational Capabilities, Patterns of Knowledge Accumulation and Governance Structures in Business Firms. An Introduction," LEM Papers Series 2003/11, Laboratory of Economics and Management (LEM), Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies, Pisa, Italy.
    16. Sidney G. Winter, 2003. "Understanding dynamic capabilities," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(10), pages 991-995, October.
    17. Nicolai J. Foss & Thorbjørn Knudsen, 2003. "The resource-based tangle: towards a sustainable explanation of competitive advantage," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(4), pages 291-307.
    18. Richard N. Langlois, 2007. "The Entrepreneurial Theory of the Firm and the Theory of the Entrepreneurial Firm," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(7), pages 1107-1124, November.
    19. Jongwook Kim & Joseph T. Mahoney, 2005. "Property rights theory, transaction costs theory, and agency theory: an organizational economics approach to strategic management," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(4), pages 223-242.
    20. David J. Teece, 2007. "Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(13), pages 1319-1350, December.
    21. Richard Makadok, 2003. "Doing the right thing and knowing the right thing to do: why the whole is greater than the sum of the parts," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(10), pages 1043-1055, October.
    22. David J. Collis, 1994. "Research Note: How Valuable are Organizational Capabilities?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(S1), pages 143-152, December.
    23. Scott L. Newbert, 2007. "Empirical research on the resource‐based view of the firm: an assessment and suggestions for future research," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(2), pages 121-146, February.
    24. Alchian, Armen A. & Demsetz, Harold, 1973. "The Property Right Paradigm," The Journal of Economic History, Cambridge University Press, vol. 33(1), pages 16-27, March.
    25. 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.
    26. Clint Chadwick & Adina Dabu, 2009. "Human Resources, Human Resource Management, and the Competitive Advantage of Firms: Toward a More Comprehensive Model of Causal Linkages," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 20(1), pages 253-272, February.
    27. Cliff Bowman & Juani Swart, 2007. "Whose Human Capital? The Challenge of Value Capture When Capital is Embedded," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(4), pages 488-505, June.
    28. David G. Hoopes & Tammy L. Madsen, 2008. "A capability-based view of competitive heterogeneity," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 17(3), pages 393-426, June.
    29. Kirsten Foss & Nicolai J. Foss & Peter G. Klein & Sandra K. Klein, 2007. "The Entrepreneurial Organization of Heterogeneous Capital," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(7), pages 1165-1186, November.
    30. Thomas C. Powell, 2001. "Competitive advantage: logical and philosophical considerations," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 22(9), pages 875-888, September.
    31. David G. Hoopes & Tammy L. Madsen & Gordon Walker, 2003. "Guest editors' introduction to the special issue: why is there a resource‐based view? Toward a theory of competitive heterogeneity," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 24(10), pages 889-902, October.
    32. Gibbons, Robert, 2005. "Four forma(lizable) theories of the firm?," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 58(2), pages 200-245, October.
    33. Witt, Ulrich, 1999. "Do Entrepreneurs Need Firms? A Contribution to a Missing Chapter in Austrian Economics," The Review of Austrian Economics, Springer;Society for the Development of Austrian Economics, vol. 11(1-2), pages 99-109.
    34. Kathleen M. Eisenhardt & Jeffrey A. Martin, 2000. "Dynamic capabilities: what are they?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 21(10‐11), pages 1105-1121, October.
    35. Christos Pitelis, 2007. "Twenty years resource-based view (or is it 50?): some (old and) new challenges and need for extensions," International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 4(1/2), pages 47-56.
    36. Constance E. Helfat & Marvin B. Lieberman, 2002. "The birth of capabilities: market entry and the importance of pre-history," Industrial and Corporate Change, Oxford University Press and the Associazione ICC, vol. 11(4), pages 725-760, August.
    37. Russell W. Coff, 1999. "When Competitive Advantage Doesn't Lead to Performance: The Resource-Based View and Stakeholder Bargaining Power," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 10(2), pages 119-133, April.
    38. Adina Dabu & Clint Chadwick, 2009. "Human Resources, Human Resource Management, and the Competitive Advantage of Firms: Toward a More Comprehensive Model of Causal Linkages," Post-Print hal-00481157, HAL.
    39. Bruce Kogut & Udo Zander, 1996. "What Firms Do? Coordination, Identity, and Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(5), pages 502-518, October.
    40. Kathleen R. Conner & C. K. Prahalad, 1996. "A Resource-Based Theory of the Firm: Knowledge Versus Opportunism," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 7(5), pages 477-501, October.
    41. Nils Stieglitz & Klaus Heine, 2007. "Innovations and the role of complementarities in a strategic theory of the firm," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(1), pages 1-15, January.
    42. S. Fukuda-Parr, 2003. "Editor's Introduction," Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 4(3), pages 323-324.
    43. James G. March, 1991. "Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 2(1), pages 71-87, February.
    44. Nicolai J. Foss & Peter G. Klein, 2004. "Entrepreneurshoip and the Economic Theory of the Firm Any Gains from Trade?," DRUID Working Papers 04-12, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    45. Jay B. Barney & Mark H. Hansen, 1994. "Trustworthiness as a Source of Competitive Advantage," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(S1), pages 175-190, December.
    46. Witt, Ulrich, 1998. "Imagination and leadership - The neglected dimension of an evolutionary theory of the firm," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 35(2), pages 161-177, April.
    47. Yasemin Y. Kor & Huseyin Leblebici, 2005. "How do interdependencies among human‐capital deployment, development, and diversification strategies affect firms' financial performance?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 26(10), pages 967-985, October.
    48. Richard R. Nelson, 1991. "Why do firms differ, and how does it matter?," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 12(S2), pages 61-74, December.
    49. Romer, Paul M, 1990. "Endogenous Technological Change," Journal of Political Economy, University of Chicago Press, vol. 98(5), pages 71-102, October.
    50. Mahoney, Joseph T., 1995. "The management of resources and the resource of management," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 91-101, June.
    51. Jay B. Barney, 1986. "Strategic Factor Markets: Expectations, Luck, and Business Strategy," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 32(10), pages 1231-1241, October.
    52. Nicolai J. Foss, 2006. "The Emerging Knowledge Governance Approach Challenges and Characteristics," DRUID Working Papers 06-10, DRUID, Copenhagen Business School, Department of Industrial Economics and Strategy/Aalborg University, Department of Business Studies.
    53. 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.
    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. Nicolaï Foss & Nils Stieglitz, 2012. "Modern Resource-based Theory(ies)," Chapters, in: Michael Dietrich & Jackie Krafft (ed.), Handbook on the Economics and Theory of the Firm, chapter 20, Edward Elgar Publishing.
    2. Nickerson, Jack A. & Yen, C. James & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2011. "Exploring the Problem-Finding and Problem-Solving Approach for Designing Organizations," Working Papers 11-0107, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    3. Foss, Nicolai J. & Klein, Peter G. & Kor, Yasemin Y. & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2006. "Entrepreneurship, Subjectivism, and the Resource-Based View: Towards a New Synthesis," Working Papers 06-0121, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    4. Giovanni Gavetti, 2012. "PERSPECTIVE—Toward a Behavioral Theory of Strategy," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 267-285, February.
    5. Reha Karadag & Laura Poppo, 2023. "Strategic resource decay," Strategic Management Journal, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 44(6), pages 1534-1561, June.
    6. Kim, Jongwook & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2008. "A Strategic Theory of the Firm as a Nexus of Incomplete Contracts: A Property Rights Approach," Working Papers 08-0108, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    7. 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.
    8. Baraldi, Enrico & Gressetvold, Espen & Harrison, Debbie, 2012. "Resource interaction in inter-organizational networks: Foundations, comparison, and a research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 65(2), pages 266-276.
    9. Abdulrahman Al–Aali & David J. Teece, 2014. "International Entrepreneurship and the Theory of the (Long–Lived) International Firm: A Capabilities Perspective," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 38(1), pages 95-116, January.
    10. Manfred Moldaschl & Dirk Fischer, 2004. "Beyond the Management View: A Ressource-Centered Socio-Economic Perspective," management revue - Socio-Economic Studies, Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft mbH & Co. KG, vol. 15(1), pages 122-151.
    11. Adegbesan, Tunji, 2007. "Strategic factor markets: Bargaining, scarcity, and resource complementarity," IESE Research Papers D/666, IESE Business School.
    12. Louis Y. Y. Lu & John S. Liu, 2013. "An innovative approach to identify the knowledge diffusion path: the case of resource-based theory," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 94(1), pages 225-246, January.
    13. Pettus, Michael L. & Kor, Yasemin Y. & Mahoney, Joseph T., 2007. "A Theory of Change in Turbulent Environments: The Sequencing of Dynamic Capabilities Following Industry Deregulation," Working Papers 07-0100, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, College of Business.
    14. Mehmet Ali Köseoglu & John A. Parnell & Melissa Yan Yee Yick, 2021. "Identifying influential studies and maturity level in intellectual structure of fields: evidence from strategic management," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(2), pages 1271-1309, February.
    15. Gottschalg, Oliver & Zollo, Mauricio, 2006. "Interest alignment and competitive advantage," HEC Research Papers Series 823, HEC Paris.
    16. Hazhir Rahmandad, 2012. "Impact of Growth Opportunities and Competition on Firm-Level Capability Development Trade-offs," Organization Science, INFORMS, vol. 23(1), pages 138-154, February.
    17. Malik, Omar R., 2008. "Adapting to market liberalization: The role of dynamic capabilities, initial resource conditions, and strategic path choices in determining evolutionary fitness of Less Developed Country (LDC) firms," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 14(3), pages 217-231, September.
    18. Schriber, Svante & Löwstedt, Jan, 2015. "Tangible resources and the development of organizational capabilities," Scandinavian Journal of Management, Elsevier, vol. 31(1), pages 54-68.
    19. Patrick Regnér & Udo Zander, 2011. "Knowledge and Strategy Creation in Multinational Companies," Management International Review, Springer, vol. 51(6), pages 821-850, December.
    20. Nayak, Bishwajit & Bhattacharyya, Som Sekhar & Krishnamoorthy, Bala, 2022. "Exploring the black box of competitive advantage – An integrated bibliometric and chronological literature review approach," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 139(C), pages 964-982.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    resource-based view; sustained competitive advantage; Austrian economics;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • B21 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - History of Economic Thought since 1925 - - - Microeconomics
    • D20 - Microeconomics - - Production and Organizations - - - General
    • B53 - Schools of Economic Thought and Methodology - - Current Heterodox Approaches - - - Austrian

    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:pra:mprapa:21442. 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: Joachim Winter (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://edirc.repec.org/data/vfmunde.html .

    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.