The DOI matches its Crossref record; 117 of the 117 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
An Assessment of Resource-Based Theorizing on Firm Growth and Suggestions for the Future
Abstract
Together, Penrosean and Barnean resource-based logic make up the dominant theoretical approach to understanding firm growth. While extant literature focuses on a common lineage between Penrosean theory and the resource-based view (RBV), we explicate divergence at these origins of resource-based theorizing and subject the growth implications of each to meta-analytic testing. RBV’s central tenets concern resources that meet valuable, rare, inimitable, and nonsubstitutable (VRIN) criteria, while Penrose’s theory discusses the versatility of resources. Theoretically, VRIN resources allow firms to exploit unique opportunities, while versatile resources allow firms to recombine resources in novel ways to create growth. Using meta-analytic techniques, we find that versatile resources are associated with higher levels of growth, whereas VRIN resources are not. We offer novel insights into alternative characteristics of resources derived from the same conceptualization of the firm, add greater specificity to the performance construct, and open up avenues for new theorizing on firm growth that is more closely aligned with Penrose’s theory.
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Cites
Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage
Barney, J. (1991) · Journal of Management · doi:10.1177/014920639101700108 · Cited by 48,334
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Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage
Barney, J. B. (2004) · Advances in Strategic Management · doi:10.1016/s0742-3322(00)17018-4 · Cited by 38,152
Absorptive Capacity: A New Perspective on Learning and Innovation
Cohen, W. M., & Levinthal, D. A. (1990) · Administrative Science Quarterly · doi:10.2307/2393553 · Cited by 35,728
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Exploration and Exploitation in Organizational Learning
March, J. G. (1991) · Organization Science · doi:10.1287/orsc.2.1.71 · Cited by 21,942 · cited 1×
“For instance, reliance on existing knowledge over new combinations can create path dependencies, lead to an overemphasis on local search, and prevent the exploration of new growth opportunities (Katila & Ahuja, 2002; March, 1991).”
BackgroundToward a knowledge-based theory of the firm
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The theory of the growth of the firm
Penrose, E. (1996) · Long Range Planning · doi:10.1016/s0024-6301(96)90295-2 · Cited by 13,770
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Cited by
Rahman, M. S., Hossain, M. A., & Abdel Fattah, F. A. M. (2022) · Journal of Enterprise Information Management · doi:10.1108/jeim-05-2020-0185 · Cited by 74
Tran, M. H., Wiklund, J., Antshel, K., Jhawar, N., & Montgomery, C. (2026) · Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice · doi:10.1177/10422587251392498 · Cited by 2
Self-citation
Metadata
- Authors
- Nason, R. S., & Wiklund, J.
- Venue
- Journal of Management
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2015-10-27
- Volume
- 44
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 32-60
- ISSN
- 0149-2063 (ISSN-L)
- 1557-1211
- OpenAlex
- W2322984844
- Cited by
- 511
- References
- 117
- FWCI
- 32.76
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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Bibliographic data: Semantic Scholar, OpenAlex, Crossref.
Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
Semantic Scholar’s data is described in: Kinney, R., et al. (2023). The Semantic Scholar Open Data Platform. arXiv:2301.10140.
