The Resource-Based Challenge to the Industry-Structure Perspective.

Efficient Resources, Industry Membership, and Shareholder Value Creation: The Case of International Joint Ventures

“…In a recent study, Conner (1994) outlined the complementarity between resource-based and industry-structure views, arguing that "in the [resource-based view], the analytic mechanism for assessing [industry] attractiveness ... would have to incorporate within itself analysis of the industry-firm interaction as a unitary element" (Conner, 1994, p. 18). Implicitly, modeling the interaction would yield deeper insights into influences on firms' economic performance as well as test the resource-based view's assertion that "there are no (or small) effects of industry membership on firm performance, independent of the strategies and capabilities of the firms themselves" (Conner,p.…”

Industry effects and firm effects: No effect is an island

“…For example, a resource that provides superior sustained firm performance must be rare across the economy, not simply in one industry (or a rival would import it from outside that industry). On the other hand, Wernerfelt (1984), Peteraf (1993), Conner (1994) and others observe that resources and the firms that own them affect performance based on the interaction with the specific industry of use. Nevertheless, what these two sides of the RBV have in common is the implication that firm performance levels differ substantially based on differences in their resource profiles.…”

“…Wernerfelt's (1984) resource-product matrix focused attention on the importance of a specific resource in a specific product market. Conner's (1994) interpretation of the RBV focused attention on how important the interaction is to assessing industry attractiveness: "Thus in the RB view, the analytical mechanism for assessing attractiveness… would have to incorporate within itself analysis of the industry-firm interaction as a unitary element…" (Conner, 1994: 18). More recently, Eriksen and Knudsen (2003) have focused on importance of the interaction in explaining, as a separate effect, the variance in firm performance: "But, despite its plausibility, we have no evidence on the importance of the interaction between firm-and industry-specific factors as a possible codeterminant of profitability."…”

Creating Competitive Advantage Using Non-Equity Strategic Alliances: A Small Company Perspective

“…Benefits of the alliance may not be clearly understood at the outset, and the relative paucity of contractually defined rules in less formal types of alliance make management more difficult (Doz and Hamel 1998). Despite the complexity, alliances provide significant benefits, including (a) providing access to resources and capabilities that would otherwise by unattainable by the firm (Koka and Prescott 2002), (b) affording a technique for firms to share the risks of expensive or risky strategies (Conner 1994;Ohmae 1989), (c) sending a signal of greater legitimacy to the market (Baum and Oliver 1991), (d) supporting growth by providing entry into new markets (Hagedoorn 1993), and (e) creating future investment options for the partners (Kogut 1991). …”