Notes 543
- B. Peabody, Lucky or Smart? Secrets to an
Entrepreneurial Life (New York: Random
House, 2004).
- Recently, a new debate has been opened that
considers whether or not the resource-based
view of the firm is a complete theory. See the
following for the details. J. Butler and R.
Priem, “Is the Resource-Based ‘View’ a
Useful Perspective for Strategic Management
Research,” Academy of Management Review
26, no.1, 2001: 22–40—Yes; J. Butler and R.
Priem, “Tautology in the Resource-Based
View and the Implications of Externally
Determined Resource Value: Further
Comments,” Academy of Management Review
26, no. 1, 2001:57–66. In fact, this book
generally adopts Barney’s approach to the
problems and issues of entrepreneurship, and
although I agree that Butler and Priem’s
work adds to the dialog, in the end I believe
that Barney’s arguments carry the day.
- A seminal work in the development of the
RBV is B. Wernerfelt, “A Resource-Based
View of the Firm,” Strategic Management
Journal5, 1984:171-180. This original work
presented the theory in the context of corpo-
rate diversification. The question addressed
was: Which resources does a firm need to
acquire, in what sequence, and from what
source (an acquisition or a partner)? The goal
of the corporation is to create a situation that
makes it difficult for another organization to
catch up.
- Here is a personal example: Two business
professors teaching in Hong Kong, one an
expert in management, the other in market-
ing, have endlessly discussed how to make
money in China. After all, the rumor is that
everyone is getting rich in China, and these
two professors are smart, talented, and even
speak Chinese. But in spite of the myriad of
opportunities available to them, the profes-
sors are unable to create a new venture. Why?
Because they have no resources and all they
know how to do is teach class and write aca-
demic papers.
- S. Winter, “Knowledge and Competence in
Strategic Assets.” In D. Teece (ed.), The
Competitive Challenge(Cambridge: Ballinger,
1987).
- Wernerfelt, 1984.
- D. Miller and J. Shamsie, “The Resource-
Based View of the Firm in Two
Environments: The Hollywood Film Studios
from 1936-1965,” Academy of Management
Journal39, no. 3, l996: 519-543.
- Collins, 1994.
- D. Collins, “Research Note: How Valuable
Are Organizational Capabilities?” Strategic
Management Journal 15, l994: 143-152.
- History is often not studied in social sciences
such as psychology and sociology and even,
to some extent, economics. One of the finest
works in management and organization the-
ory is a set of histories by A. Chandler,
Strategy and Structure (Cambridge, MA:
MIT Press, l962); and entrepreneurial histo-
ries abounded as an early form of study. See
Section II. H. Livesay “Entrepreneurial
History.” In C. Kent, D. Sexton, and K.
Vesper (eds.), Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurship
(Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall,
l982). To understand how history and science
are related, see any works by Stephen Jay
Gould.
- Barney, 1986.
- C. Bowman and V. Ambrosini, “Value
Creation versus Value Capture: Toward a
Coherent Definition of Value in Strategy,”
British Journal of Management 11, 2000:1-15.
- From Valuebasedmanagement.net. Retrieved
from the Web on January 31, 2007.
http://www.valuebasedmanagement.net/met
hods_barney_resource_based_view_firm.htm
l.
- J. Barney, “Firm Resources and Sustained
Competitive Advantage.” Journal of Man-
agement 17, 1991;99–120.
- Some recent formulations (if you google-
search “VRIO” you will see it) of the RBV
have adopted a VRIO set of qualities instead
of the VRIN espoused here. The difference is
that in the new formulation, nonsubstitutabil-
ity, is included in Imperfect Imitability and
the O stands for organizational ability.
However, I would disagree with the new for-
mat. The VRIN rubric describes categories
of qualities of resources. Organizational abil-
ity is a type of resource and is therefore differ-
ent. I include organization in the PROFIT
model instead.
- J. Timmons, New Venture Creation. (Home-
wood, IL: Irwin, 1990). Timmons uses these
three general criteria for assessing the wor-
thiness of an entrepreneurial effort. We will
discuss the evaluation of business opportuni-
ties and business plans in more detail in this
and later chapters.
