Resources and Capabilities

If a firm’s resources are both valuable and rare, a firm may achieve a competitive advantage (Newbert, 2008). A resource is considered valuable when it improves the efficiency and effectiveness of a strategy, and when it exploits external opportunities or neutralises external threats (Barney, 1991). This wording is somewhat confusing as it draws a direct connection with the environmental model, i.e. Porter’s (1985) five forces. The ‘value’ variable could therefore be rendered exogenous to the RBV (Priem and Butler, 2001). On the other hand, Peteraf (1993) praises the model for its internal focus and ability to uncover potential sources of competitive advantage which cannot be attributed to the external environment, notably because areas of value are often so difficult to identify (Newbert, 2008). The term ‘potential’ is used because not all resources have the ability to create a SCA

Acquisition and organisation of resources can be critical success factor in an organization. While on the other hand, change requires a firm to gain expand and utilise resource such as human, financial, knowledge as a crucial asset. Resource based approach supports this view and as Tywoniak (2007) claimed by that resource based view is the most dominant theory in history of management. This is achieved by targeting state of sustained competitive advantage by controlling resources and capabilities. This view emphasis on the need for a ‘fit’ among capabilities and external market, and since each firm has unique capabilities and resources, this result in achieving strategic

Resources are all the elements that a firm allocates and are divided in three categories. Tangible, intangible and human resources.

The resource-based view was developed to help emphasize internal capabilities as a means of creating competitive advantage (Henry, n.d.) In this view, the organization is comprised of a series of resources that are used by management. These resources are the source of new products and the internal improvements that help companies to better compete in the marketplace. There are two different types of resources tangible and intangible. The former category consists of physical assets, and is characterized as physical resources, human resources and capital resources. So physical resources are the buildings, machinery, materials and productive capacity. At Coca-Cola, the company's physical resources

Especially in times where raw materials and resources are gaining more and more value, companies need to use their assets and resources in the most efficient way, in order to stay competitive. These opportunities are called “capabilities”. Capabilities can be described as organizationally embedded non-transferable firm-specific resources. (Crook, T. R., et. al., 2008). Capabilities can be divided into distinctive and threshold capabilities. On the one hand, Threshold capabilities or resources are fulfilling the general criteria a firm has to provide, in order to survive on the market. Regarding our example of Adidas, the threshold criteria for their certain industry are buildings, land, workforce, several departments and outsourced manufactories.

Capabilities: Schmitz (2012) refers to capabilities as “what the organization can do” to effectively utilize its resources. Some examples of Raytheon’s capabilities are Raytheon’s Six Sigma progress, integrated supply chain management, and a variety of technological capabilities. Raytheon’s Six Sigma is “a disciplined, knowledge-based approach designed to increase

Barney, J. (2004). Firm resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage. Strategy: Process Content Context: an international perspective, de Wit & Meyer , 285-292.

He suggested that sustained competitive advantage derives from the resources and capabilities a firm controls that are valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable, and not substitutable. He further added that the resources and capabilities can be viewed in form of tangible and intangible assets. There are four different categories of resources financial, physical, human, and organization.

Capabilities refer to a firm’s skill in using its resources to create goods and services. During the 1970s and 1980s, Westlake lanes hosted a steady stream of family bowlers and birthday parties. Mr. Sugar also cultivated popular bowling leagues, 32 weeks in duration, for his Raleigh friends and neighbours. However, the capabilities of Westlake lanes can be described as a commodity that can be readily found.

For a business to be successful and have a competitive advantage, it is important to evaluate the company’s resources and capabilities (Pitt & Koufopoulos, 2012). Resources in a company are the productive assets owned (tangible or intangible) whereas capabilities are what the company can do with this (Grant, 2010). “Establishing competitive

Compare and contrast the market-based approach and the resource-based view as approaches to competitive strategy. To what extent are they rival or complementary views?

A company’s resources include two types: tangible and intangible. The former is asset that can be observed and counted, such as, office furniture, production equipment, computer, and warehouse, etc. Unlikely, the intangible resources are assets that are rooted deeply in the company’s history, accumulate over time, and are relatively difficult for competitors to learn and copy, such as brand, intellectual property and reputation, etc.

Resources of a company are very much important for the continuous well-growth of the profit and performance of the company. Resources of a company can be tangible or intangible resources as well. There are several resources of Rio Tinto that can be the catalyst for the improvement of the company.

Resources are the source of the firm’s capabilities. Resources are bundled to create organisational capabilities. Some of a firm’s resources are tangible and intangible. Tangible resources are assets that can be seen and quantified. Intangible resources include assets that typically are rooted deeply in the firm’s history and have accumulated over time. Intangible resources are relatively difficult for competitors to analyse and imitate. The four types of tangible resources are financial, organisational, physical and technological. And the three types of intangible resources are human, innovation and reputational (Hanson, D., Hitt, M., Ireland, R. D., & Hoskisson, R. E., 2011, pp. 75-78).

Capabilities mean how the company mixes and utilizes all assets to bring the best product offered. These capabilities summarize in company 4Ps, which are listed as below: