The Resource Based View: Origin, Influences, and Advances

Abstract

This paper traces the origins, influences, and advances of pertinent views, theories, and concepts used in contemporary research in organizational economics, industrial organization, and strategic management. A review RBV is imperative and timely for three reasons. First, RBV is a unifying framework of three organizational theories, namely, Organizational Economics (OE), Industrial Organization (IO) and Strategic Management (SM). Therefore, a thorough understanding of RBV provides a sound basis for conceptual development. Second, theoretical contribution is built on an engaging conversation with the underlying narrative in previous research. On most occasions, instead of new theory development from scratch, altering variables from existing literature that significantly advances the theory is more feasible. A clear understanding of the relevant differences and integration of theory(ies) is required to avoid ad hoc disparate hypotheses. Third, the recent advancements confirming RBV’s propositions have opened avenues for interdisciplinary research (e.g., RBV and Managerial Discretion; RBV and capability life-cycle; RBV and Strategic Human Resource Management and Systems; RBV and Temporal Effects).