The Development of the Resource-based View: Reflections from Birger Wernerfelt 1

Abstract

Since the publication of Birger Wernerfelt's seminal article on the `Resource-based view of the firm' in 1984, the strategic management field has embraced the notion that firms are fundamentally heterogeneous in terms of their resources and internal capabilities. This paper assesses the development of the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm from Wernerfelt's own perspective. Given his limited engagement in the strategic management field over the previous decades, we asked Wernerfelt to revisit his work and to comment on the critical issues which have subsequently arisen as the RBV has developed into a dominant paradigm in strategic management.

Carbon disclosure and financial performance: UK environmental policy

“…Indeed, any firm is a bundle of resources (Penrose, ; Wernerfelt, ), defined as “the subset of its productive assets which are economically inalienable” (Wernerfelt, , p. 102). Each firm has a unique (heterogeneous) resource endowment (Lockett, O'Shea, & Wright, ). These resources can only be a source of sustained competitive advantage when they are valuable (Barney & Clark, ).…”

Building Theory at the Intersection of Ecological Sustainability and Strategic Management

“…Because the emphasis of this strategy is on resources and 5R activities, a transitional strategy reflects the RBV of the firm (Barney 1991;Levitas and Ndofor 2006;Lockett et al 2008), and more specifically a natural RBV of the firm (Hart 1995). Hart (1995) argues that firms can achieve superior performance by managing their relationship with the natural environment and thereby developing valuable, rare, difficult-to-imitate, non-substitutable resources related to pollution reduction, product stewardship, and sustainable development.…”

A resource-based view on non-urban regional flourishing in Europe

“…Intangible resources may be trademarks, patents, know-how, human resources (employee skills) and organizational practice and processes. The literature discusses all these resources in depth (e.g., Armstrong and Shimizu, 2007;Collis and Montgomery, 1995;Locket, 2005;Locket, O'Shea and Wright, 2008;Locket, Thompson and Morgenstern, 2009). The crucial factor that determines a resource's value is whether a company owns and/or controls it (Barney, 1991).…”

“…Gradually RBT began to appear in discussions on the use of management resources and in company analyses (Barney, Wright and Ketchen, 2001;Locket, 2005;Priem and Butler, 2001;Spender, 1989). Researchers engaged in several important discussions on method and empirical evidence collection during this period (Armstrong and Shimuzu, 2007;Locket, O'Shea and Wright, 2008;Norman, Butler and Raft, 2012). The VRIO framework was developed further and used to show how a combination of resources could create a unique palette of resources (Andersén, 2011;Barney, 2002;Barney and Hesterly, 2006;Knott, 2009).…”

“…A chart has been developed to get an overview of the findings of the VRIO framework regarding Töreboda, and a comparison with Aix-en-Provence and Bergamo: to explain the most critical resources found. Intangible resources are also of interest in this context (Locket, 2005;Locket, O'Shea and Wright, 2008) and are included in Table 5.2.…”