The Role of a Manager’s Intangible Capabilities in Resource Acquisition and Sustainable Competitive Performance

Abstract

The answer to the challenging question, “Should one either invest in tangible resources or intangible resources/capabilities?” is still fragmented. In prior studies, more emphasis is given to tangible resources, while intangible resources have comparatively received minor attention, despite their significant role in the success of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Particularly the role of the intangible skills; intellectual capital, financial literacy (FL), and business experience (BE) in resource acquisition and sustainable competitive performance has missed in prior studies. Grounded on the resource-based view and upper echelon theory, this study examines the role of intellectual capital in sustainable competitive performance with a mediating role of resource acquisition. This research also assesses the moderating role of financial literacy and business experience between intellectual capital and resource acquisition. Data are collected through structured questionnaires from 384 owners/managers of Pakistani SMEs. After analyzing the data through structural equation modeling (SEM), the results indicate that intellectual capital helps managers in acquiring valuable resources, which in turn enhance sustainable competitive performance. Resource acquisition partially mediates the relation between intellectual capital and sustainable competitive performance. Financial literacy is a significant predictor of resource acquisition, but it does not significantly moderate the relation between intellectual capital and sustainable competitive performance. Business experience significantly boosts the acquisition of resources and strengthens the path between intellectual capital and resource acquisition. SMEs should encourage their managers to acquire unique, rare, and immutable external resources in the turbulent markets.

Bridging Intellectual Capital and SMEs Internationalization through the Lens of Sustainable Competitive Advantage: A Systematic Literature Review

“…All these systematic approaches have put forward compelling insights for the scope of the current endeavor, nevertheless they only set the premises for a more targeted outlook of the key variables. Given the fact that our search strategy did not return breakthrough approaches on the topic and in light of the findings of previous studies [30][31][32][33][34][35], we acknowledged the existence of a research gap and the imperative to provide an output for readers and researchers (i.e., a research agenda and/or a conceptual framework on the topic) liable to bring to the fore future research avenues.…”

“…This situation is indicative of the fact that these studies have not discussed the relationships among the constructs/key variables in a comprehensive framework, but rather in tangential approaches, thus calling for more articulate and specific investigations. A new path towards further exploration of the underlying conceptual relationships between constructs and of the structural relationships between factors within more complex methodological designs is opened, all the more so as, nowadays, SMEs internationalization process cannot be framed anymore in the absence of intangible assets and sustainability views [14][15][16][17][18][19][30][31][32][33][34][35]129]. Moreover, taking into consideration the distribution criterion of articles with regard to the year of publication and the source journals most contributions have been published in (as depicted in Table 3), a growing interest has been displayed in academia and research for this topic or for related ones since 2011, as objectivized in top-ranked scientific outlets.…”

Do Corporate Social Responsibility and Corporate Governance Influence Intellectual Capital Efficiency?

“…Waldman et al [130] found a positive correlation between the intellectual stimulation dimension of CEO leadership and the propensity of a firm to be socially responsible. Ying et al [49] highlighted that the support to IC for a superior competitive advantage was largely driven by top management skills and engagement in fostering IC culture inside organizations. Altuner et al [29] proposed a triangulation among CG, IC, and CSR with the aim to demonstrate the positive linkages among these concepts and firm facets.…”

“…The findings of the meta-analyses range from small [44] to medium [45] to significantly positive links between CSR and financial performance [46]. On the other hand, we refer to the less-investigated theme of the impact of CSR on IC from a management perspective [15,27,28,[47][48][49]. To integrate these two lines of investigation, the present study assumes the concept of CSR as a "cospecialized asset" [37] (p. 1491) with the capacity to increase the value of other assets, which, in turn, contribute to the firm performance.…”

Knowledge and Human Capital as Sustainable Competitive Advantage in Human Resource Management

“…It can be concluded that the interlinks between intellectual capital and sustainable regional competitiveness are strong and inseparable [30]. Also, the results of Ying's et al research indicate that intellectual capital helps managers in acquiring valuable resources, which in turn enhance sustainable competitive performance [31]. HC is defined as a measure of experience, enterprise databases, technologies and devices, knowledge and skills, and customer relationships.…”