Zhongyuan Sun

Reading lists Stream 19Search all readings

Resource-based view and capabilities

Resources, knowledge and dynamic capabilities as sources of advantage.

Of its 64 readings, 26 are assigned in two or more sources and listed first, with the number of sources beside each (in bold for the core readings, in 4 or more); the 38 listed in only one source are folded under each heading.

In the theory tree: grows out of 16 Evolutionary theory, technology and innovation and 18 Economic perspectives on strategy.

Drawn from: Yao (HBS); Zuckerman (MIT); Wan (CUHK); Yiu (CUHK); Jia (USC); Glaser (Alberta); Levinthal (Wharton); Sullivan (HKUST); Kogut & Keum (Columbia); Zhou (HKU); Peng (UT Dallas); Clough (UBC); Amit (Wharton); Pollock (Tennessee). Full details of the sources are on the reading lists page.

By decade

Before 1950: 0 readings<19501950s: 2 readings1950s1960s: 0 readings1960s1970s: 0 readings1970s1980s: 5 readings1980s1990s: 17 readings1990s2000s: 24 readings242000s2010s: 15 readings2010s2020s: 1 reading2020s
Most date from the 2000s; half were published in 2001 or later.

Core readings

In 4 or more sources.

  1. Barney, J. (1991). Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage. Journal of Management, 17(1), 99–120. https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063910170010810
  2. Wernerfelt, B. (1984). A resource‐based view of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 5(2), 171–180. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.42500502078
  3. Priem, R. L., & Butler, J. E. (2001). Is the Resource-Based “View” a Useful Perspective for Strategic Management Research? Academy of Management Review, 26(1), 22–40. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2001.40119287
  4. Penrose, E. (1959). The Theory of the Growth of the Firm. Oxford University Press.6
  5. Dierickx, I., & Cool, K. (1989). Asset Stock Accumulation and Sustainability of Competitive Advantage. Management Science, 35(12), 1504–1511. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.35.12.15046
  6. Peteraf, M. A. (1993). The cornerstones of competitive advantage: A resource‐based view. Strategic Management Journal, 14(3), 179–191. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.42501403036
  7. Teece, D. J., Pisano, G., & Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 18(7), 509–533. https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1097-0266(199708)18:7<509::aid-smj882>3.0.co;2-z6
  8. Barney, J. B. (2001). Is the Resource-Based “View” a Useful Perspective for Strategic Management Research? Yes. Academy of Management Review, 26(1), 41–56. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2001.40119386
  9. Barney, J. B. (1986). Strategic Factor Markets: Expectations, Luck, and Business Strategy. Management Science, 32(10), 1231–1241. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.32.10.12315

Also assigned

In 2 to 3 sources.

  1. Henderson, R., & Cockburn, I. (1994). Measuring Competence? Exploring Firm Effects in Pharmaceutical Research. Strategic Management Journal, 15(S1), 63–84. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.42501509063
  2. Grant, R. M. (1996). Toward a knowledge‐based theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17(S2), 109–122. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.42501711103
  3. Eisenhardt, K. M., & Martin, J. A. (2000). Dynamic capabilities: what are they? Strategic Management Journal, 21(10-11), 1105–1121. https://doi.org/10.1002/1097-0266(200010/11)21:10/11<1105::aid-smj133>3.0.co;2-e3
  4. Markides, C. C., & Williamson, P. J. (1994). Related diversification, core competences and corporate performance. Strategic Management Journal, 15(S2), 149–165. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.42501510102
  5. Wernerfelt, B. (1995). The resource‐based view of the firm: Ten years after. Strategic Management Journal, 16(3), 171–174. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.42501603032
  6. Liebeskind, J. P. (1996). Knowledge, strategy, and the theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17(S2), 93–107. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.42501711092
  7. Chang, S. J., & Hong, J. (2000). Economic performance of group-affiliated companies in Korea: Intragroup resource sharing and internal business transactions. Academy of Management Journal, 43(3), 429–448. https://doi.org/10.2307/15564032
  8. Siggelkow, N. (2001). Change in the presence of fit: The rise, the fall, and the renaissance of Liz Claiborne. Academy of Management Journal, 44(4), 838–857. https://doi.org/10.2307/30694182
  9. Anand, J., & Delios, A. (2002). Absolute and relative resources as determinants of international acquisitions. Strategic Management Journal, 23(2), 119–134. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2152
  10. Winter, S. G. (2003). Understanding dynamic capabilities. Strategic Management Journal, 24(10), 991–995. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.3182
  11. Newbert, S. L. (2007). Empirical research on the resource‐based view of the firm: an assessment and suggestions for future research. Strategic Management Journal, 28(2), 121–146. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.5732
  12. Teece, D. J. (2007). Explicating dynamic capabilities: the nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance. Strategic Management Journal, 28(13), 1319–1350. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.6402
  13. Sirmon, D. G., Gove, S., & Hitt, M. A. (2008). Resource Management In Dyadic Competitive Rivalry: The Effects of Resource Bundling and Deployment. Academy of Management Journal, 51(5), 919–935. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2008.347896562
  14. Sirmon, D. G., Hitt, M. A., Ireland, R. D., & Gilbert, B. A. (2011). Resource Orchestration to Create Competitive Advantage: Breadth, Depth, and Life Cycle Effects. Journal of Management, 37(5), 1390–1412. https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063103856952
  15. Wan, W. P., Hoskisson, R. E., Short, J. C., & Yiu, D. W. (2011). Resource-Based Theory and Corporate Diversification: Accomplishments and Opportunities. Journal of Management, 37(5), 1335–1368. https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063103918042
  16. Barney, J. B., Ketchen, D. J., Jr., & Wright, M. (2011). The Future of Resource-Based Theory: Revitalization or Decline? Journal of Management, 37(5), 1299–1315. https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063103918052
  17. Barrick, M. R., Thurgood, G. R., Smith, T. A., & Courtright, S. H. (2015). Collective Organizational Engagement: Linking Motivational Antecedents, Strategic Implementation, and Firm Performance. Academy of Management Journal, 58(1), 111–135. https://doi.org/10.5465/amj.2013.02272

Further readings

38 more, listed in one source
  1. Penrose, E. (1959). Theory of the Growth of the Firm, Chapter V: 'Inherited' Resources and the Direction of Expansion. Oxford University Press.
  2. Barney, J. B. (1986). Organizational Culture: Can It Be a Source of Sustained Competitive Advantage? Academy of Management Review, 11(3), 656. https://doi.org/10.2307/258317
  3. Barney, J. B. (1989). Asset Stocks and Sustained Competitive Advantage: A Comment. Management Science, 35(12), 1511–1513. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.35.12.1511
  4. Porter, M. E. (1990). The Competitive Advantage of Nations. Free Press. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-11336-1
  5. Prahalad, C. K., & Hamel, G. (1990). The Core Competence of the Corporation. Harvard Business Review.
  6. Conner, K. R. (1991). A Historical Comparison of Resource-Based Theory and Five Schools of Thought Within Industrial Organization Economics: Do We Have a New Theory of the Firm? Journal of Management, 17(1), 121–154. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920639101700109
  7. Nonaka, I. (1994). A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation. Organization Science, 5(1), 14–37. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.5.1.14
  8. Milgrom, P., & Roberts, J. (1995). Complementarities and fit strategy, structure, and organizational change in manufacturing. Journal of Accounting and Economics, 19(2-3), 179–208. https://doi.org/10.1016/0165-4101(94)00382-f
  9. Foss, N. J. (1996). More Critical Comments on Knowledge-Based Theories of the Firm. Organization Science, 7(5), 519–523. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.7.5.519
  10. Kogut, B., & Zander, U. (1996). What Firms Do? Coordination, Identity, and Learning. Organization Science, 7(5), 502–518. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.7.5.502
  11. Tripsas, M. (1997). Surviving Radical Technological Change through Dynamic Capability: Evidence from the Typesetter Industry. Industrial and Corporate Change, 6(2), 341–377. https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/6.2.341
  12. Capron, L., Dussauge, P., & Mitchell, W. (1998). Resource redeployment following horizontal acquisitions in Europe and North America, 1988-1992. Strategic Management Journal, 19(7), 631–661. https://doi.org/10.1002/(sici)1097-0266(199807)19:7<631::aid-smj963>3.0.co;2-9
  13. Spanos, Y. E., & Lioukas, S. (2001). An examination into the causal logic of rent generation: contrasting Porter's competitive strategy framework and the resource‐based perspective. Strategic Management Journal, 22(10), 907–934. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.174
  14. Baron, J. N., Hannan, M. T., & Burton, M. D. (2001). Labor Pains: Change in Organizational Models and Employee Turnover in Young, High‐Tech Firms. American Journal of Sociology, 106(4), 960–1012. https://doi.org/10.1086/320296
  15. Rivkin, J. W. (2001). Reproducing Knowledge: Replication Without Imitation at Moderate Complexity. Organization Science, 12(3), 274–293. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.12.3.274.10106
  16. Priem, R. L., & Butler, J. E. (2001). Tautology in the Resource-Based View and the Implications of Externally Determined Resource Value: Further Comments. Academy of Management Review, 26(1), 57. https://doi.org/10.2307/259394
  17. Barney, J., Wright, M., & Ketchen, D. J., Jr. (2001). The resource-based view of the firm: Ten years after 1991. Journal of Management, 27(6), 625–641. https://doi.org/10.1177/014920630102700601
  18. Sørensen, J. B. (2002). The Strength of Corporate Culture and the Reliability of Firm Performance. Administrative Science Quarterly, 47(1), 70–91. https://doi.org/10.2307/3094891
  19. Zott, C. (2003). Dynamic capabilities and the emergence of intraindustry differential firm performance: insights from a simulation study. Strategic Management Journal, 24(2), 97–125. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.288
  20. Helfat, C. E., & Peteraf, M. A. (2003). The dynamic resource‐based view: capability lifecycles. Strategic Management Journal, 24(10), 997–1010. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.332
  21. Barney, J. (2004). Gaining and Sustaining Competitive Advantage (2nd ed.). Prentice Hall.
  22. Ahuja, G., & Katila, R. (2004). Where do resources come from? The role of idiosyncratic situations. Strategic Management Journal, 25(8-9), 887–907. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.401
  23. Hambrick, D. C. (2005). Upper Echelons Theory Origins, Twists And Turns, And Lessons Learned. In Smith & Hitt (Eds.), Great Minds in Management (pp. 109–127). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199276813.003.0006
  24. Barney, J. B. (2005). Where Does Inequality Come From? The Personal And Intellectual Roots Of Resource-Based Theory. In Smith & Hitt (Eds.), Great Minds in Management (pp. 280–303). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780199276813.003.0014
  25. O’Reilly, C. A., III, & Tushman, M. L. (2008). Ambidexterity as a dynamic capability: Resolving the innovator's dilemma. Research in Organizational Behavior, 28, 185–206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.riob.2008.06.002
  26. Groysberg, B., Lee, L.-E., & Nanda, A. (2008). Can They Take It With Them? The Portability of Star Knowledge Workers' Performance. Management Science, 54(7), 1213–1230. https://doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1070.0809
  27. Argyres, N. S., & Zenger, T. R. (2012). Capabilities, Transaction Costs, and Firm Boundaries. Organization Science, 23(6), 1643–1657. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1110.0736
  28. Ethiraj, S. K., & Garg, P. (2012). The Division of Gains from Complementarities in Human-Capital-Intensive Activity. Organization Science, 23(3), 725–742. https://doi.org/10.1287/orsc.1110.0659
  29. Priem, R. L., Butler, J. E., & Li, S. (2013). Toward Reimagining Strategy Research: Retrospection and Prospection on the 2011 AMR Decade Award Article. Academy of Management Review, 38(4), 471–489. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2013.0097
  30. Pisano, G. P. (2017). Toward a prescriptive theory of dynamic capabilities: connecting strategic choice, learning, and competition. Industrial and Corporate Change, 26(5), 747–762. https://doi.org/10.1093/icc/dtx026
  31. Gans, J., & Ryall, M. D. (2017). Value capture theory: A strategic management review. Strategic Management Journal, 38(1), 17–41. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2592
  32. Cattani, G., Sands, D., Porac, J., & Greenberg, J. (2018). Competitive Sensemaking in Value Creation and Capture. Strategy Science, 3(4), 632–657. https://doi.org/10.1287/stsc.2018.0069
  33. Hoskisson, R. E., Gambeta, E., Green, C. D., & Li, T. X. (2018). Is My Firm-Specific Investment Protected? Overcoming the Stakeholder Investment Dilemma in the Resource-Based View. Academy of Management Review, 43(2), 284–306. https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2015.0411
  34. Keum, D. D. (2018). Penalizing the Underdogs? Employment Protection and the Competitive Dynamics of Firm Innovation. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2816763
  35. Schilke, O., Hu, S., & Helfat, C. E. (2018). Quo Vadis, Dynamic Capabilities? A Content-Analytic Review of the Current State of Knowledge and Recommendations for Future Research. Academy of Management Annals, 12(1), 390–439. https://doi.org/10.5465/annals.2016.0014
  36. Alexy, O., West, J., Klapper, H., & Reitzig, M. (2018). Surrendering control to gain advantage: Reconciling openness and the resource‐based view of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 39(6), 1704–1727. https://doi.org/10.1002/smj.2706
  37. Various short responses to Pisano 2017. (2018). Industrial and Corporate Change 27(6).
  38. Davis, G. F., & DeWitt, T. (2021). Organization Theory and the Resource-Based View of the Firm: The Great Divide. Journal of Management, 47(7), 1684–1697. https://doi.org/10.1177/0149206320982650