Strategic resources and performance: a meta‐analysis

Abstract

Resource-based theory (RBT) has emerged as a key perspective guiding inquiry into the determinants of organizational performance. Since the early 1990s, numerous studies have examined RBT's assertion that the extent to which organizations possess strategic resources is positively related to performance. Although many studies appear to support this assertion, there is no consensus regarding how strongly strategic resources relate to performance. To help resolve this issue, we meta-analyze 125 studies of RBT that collectively encompass over 29,000 organizations. Our conservative estimate is that the effect size of the strategic resources-performance relationship is r c = 0 .22 . Moderator tests suggest that the resources-performance link is stronger (1) when resources meet the criteria laid out in RBT and (2) for those performance measures that are not affected by potential value appropriation. When resources meet RBT's criteria and when performance measures are not affected by potential appropriation, the strength of the relationship grows to r c = 0 .29 . This suggests that the identification, development, and distribution of value from strategic resources should be a primary consideration for scholars, managers, and shareholders.

Modern Resource-Based Theory(ies)

“…As Barney and Arikan (2001: 174) admit, the (high-church) RBV has "a very simple view about how resources are connected to the strategies that a firm pursues." Relatedly, Crook et al (2008) argued that contingencies related to managerial choice should be a major research area within the RBV. More generally, Felin and Foss (2005) argued that action and interaction in general should be more prominently featured in the RBV in order to understand the emergence, maintenance, change, etc.…”

“…In survey articles on the empirical support for the RBV, Armstrong and Shimizu (2007) and Newbert (2007) find only modest support for the key tenets of the RBV that connect resource characteristics to sustained profitability (cf. Crook et al 2008 for a meta study that finds more robust support). Arend (2006: pp) even argue that … there are no satisfactory empirical tests of the RBV.…”

Modern Resource-based Theory(ies)

“…Relatedly, Crook et al (2008) argued that contingencies related to managerial choice should be a major research area within the RBV. More generally, Felin and Foss (2005) argued that action and interaction in general should be more prominently featured in the RBV in order to understand the emergence, maintenance, change, etc.…”

Influence of subcontracting constraints on the performance of manufacturing industries in Nigeria

“…Despite its relevance, there is hardly a consensus about its definition, dimensionality, and measurement, what limits advances in research and understanding of the concept (Santos & Brito, 2012). The research into firm performance suffers from problems such as lack of consensus, selection of indicators based on convenience, and little consideration of its dimensionality (Combs, Crook, & Shook, 2005;Crook, Ketchen, Combs, & Todd, 2008;Richard, Devinney, Yip, and Johnson 2009). Many studies measure firm performance with a single indicator and represent this concept as one-dimensional, even while admitting its multidimensionality (Glick, Washburn, & Miller, 2005).…”