Guest editors' introduction to the special issue: why is there a resource‐based view? Toward a theory of competitive heterogeneity

TLDR

The resource‑based view is a widely studied strategy framework that nevertheless confuses scholars from other disciplines and whose foundational assumptions are not universally accepted by strategy researchers. The authors aim to clarify the RBV’s contribution by elaborating its core tenets and linking them to research on interfirm performance variance, while proposing a broader theory of competitive heterogeneity. They achieve this by systematically detailing the RBV’s basic principles and relating them to existing studies on performance differences among firms. © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Abstract

Abstract Although the resource‐based view (RBV) is one of the most popular and fruitful areas of strategy research, it often perplexes scholars from other disciplines. Also, it is unclear whether strategy scholars themselves agree on the RBV's basic issues and premises. To clarify the contribution of the RBV, in this paper we elaborate its basic tenets and relate them to other current research on interfirm performance variance. We suggest a more expansive discussion of sustained differences among firms and thereby develop a broad theory of competitive heterogeneity. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.