Resource Orchestration to Create Competitive Advantage

TLDR

The article examines resource orchestration as a means to deepen resource‑based theory by foregrounding managers’ actions in structuring, bundling, and leveraging firm resources. The authors review and integrate resource management and asset orchestration, then map the resulting framework across breadth, life‑cycle, and depth dimensions of the firm. This integration clarifies managers’ roles within RBT, offering a more precise understanding of how resource orchestration shapes firm performance.

Abstract

In this article, the authors discuss how an emerging research stream, which they term resource orchestration, has the potential to extend the understanding of resource-based theory (RBT) by explicitly addressing the role of managers’ actions to effectively structure, bundle, and leverage firm resources. First, the authors review this emerging stream by comparing two related frameworks, resource management and asset orchestration. This comparison leads to their integration, which enables a more precise understanding of managers’ roles within RBT. Then the authors discuss what is known and what remains to be known about resource orchestration. This leads to in-depth reviews of three areas where research on resource orchestration can be used to extend RBT. These areas are (1) breadth (resource orchestration across the scope of the firm), (2) life cycle (resource orchestration at various stages of firm maturity), and (3) depth (resource orchestration across levels of the firm). They close with a discussion of future research that will extend resource orchestration and contribute to a more robust RBT.