Strategic Assets, Competitive Capabilities and Firm Performance: Review of the Literature

Justus M. Kyengo; James Kilika

doi:doi:10.11648/j.jbed.20170203.11

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Strategic Assets, Competitive Capabilities and Firm Performance: Review of the Literature

Justus M. Kyengo, James Kilika

Published in Journal of Business and Economic Development (Volume 2, Issue 3)

Received: 27 December 2016 Accepted: 3 February 2017 Published: 24 February 2017

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Abstract

Each firm faces a unique set of competitors when similarities among products and resources are considered to identify competitors. Despite much debate in the strategy literature on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance this debate has generated little consensus, hence the knowledge gap that the current paper seeks to fill. The objectives of the study are as follows; to review the extant theoretical literature on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance, to review the extant empirical literature on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance, to identify the gaps in literature that will help in understanding the relationship between strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance and to propose a theoretical framework based on the identified theoretical and empirical gaps. This study will be important in terms of empirical enhancement since past studies have limitation of the empirical research on strategic assets and competitiveness in regards to being imperfect comparability of results across different studies using different variables (features) describing competitiveness. This paper contributes to the theoretical research on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance not only by the synthesis of old and new writings as well as the findings of the exploratory studies, but also by concept synthesis. Since the concept of strategic assets and competitive capability can be reported to individual product/service, enterprise/farm, industry, economic sector, region, nation or international economic blocks, the attempts towards creating one common definition of strategic assets, competitive capabilities seem to be doomed to fail. This study is significance because it will be used in the developing of government policies on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and its links to performance. This is important because developing government policies to improve the business competitiveness requires an understanding the major factors that facilitate or impede firms’ ability to compete. These factors can, however, differ depending on a country, region or industry. This study will facilitate polices on public spending and taxes, exchange rates, interest rates, and government regulatory activities as some of the examples of key macroeconomic determinants of competitiveness.

Published in	Journal of Business and Economic Development (Volume 2, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.jbed.20170203.11
Page(s)	140-147
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2017. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Strategic Assets, Competitive Capabilities and Firm Performance

References

[1]	Benedetto, C. and Song, M. (2003). The Relationship between Strategic Type and Firm Capabilities in Chinese Firms, International Marketing Review, 20, 5, 514-533.
[2]	Bharadwaj, A. S. (2000). A Resource-based Perspective on Information Technology Capability and Firm Performance: An Empirical Investigation, MIS Quarterly, 24, 1, 169-198.
[3]	Bowman, C.(2001). Value’ in the Resource-Based View of the Firm: A Contribution to the Debate”, Academy of Management Review, Vol. 26, No. 4, 501-502.
[4]	Canal, J. (2000), Managing Corporate Growth. Oxford University Press, New York.
[5]	Carmen, C. O., Fernando, M., Ramon, V. C. (2003). Intangible Resources and Strategic Orientation of Companies: An Analysis in the Spanish Context, Journal of Business Research, 56, 95-103.
[6]	Coates, T. T. and McDermott C. M. (2002). An Exploratory Analysis of New Competencies: A Resource Based View Perspective, Journal of Operations Management 20, 435-450.
[7]	Eisenhardt, K. M. & Martin, J. A. (2000) Dynamic capabilities: what are they? Strategic Management Journal, 21 (10/11): 1105-1122.
[8]	Flamholtz, E. and Wei, H. (2003). Searching for Competitive Advantage in the Black Box, European Management Journal, 21, 2, 222-236.
[9]	Foss, N. J. and Knudsen, T. (2001). The Resource-Based Tangle: Towards a Sustained Explanation of Competitive Advantage, Institute for Industry Economy, working paper 2000-1.
[10]	Galbreath J. (2004). Which Resources Matter The Most to Firm Success? An Exploratory Study of Resource-based Theory, Technovation.
[11]	Hafeez, K., Zhang, Y. B., and Malam, N. (2002). Determining Key Capabilities of a Firm using Analytic Hierarchy Process, Int. J. Production Economics, 76, 39-51.
[12]	Hoffman, N. P. (2000). An Examination of the “Sustainable Competitive Advantage” Concept: Past, Present, and Future. Academy of Marketing Science Review (Online) 2000 (4)
[13]	Kaplan, R. S. and Norton, D. P. (2004). The Strategy Map: Guide to Aligning Intangible Assets, Strategy and Leadership, 32 (5), 10-17.
[14]	Kotze, J. (2002). Sustainable Competitive Advantage in the 21st Century, Accountancy, February 11-16.
[15]	Lopez, V. A. (2002). An Overview Review of the Resource-based View (RBV) of the Firm, Drawing on Recent Spanish Management Research, The Irish Journal of Management, 105-120.
[16]	Ordaz, C. C., Alcazar, F. M., and Cabrera, R. V. (2003). Intangible Resources and Strategic Orientation of Companies, An Analysis in the Spanish Context, Journal of Business Research, 56, 95-103
[17]	Peteraf, M., & Barney, J. (2003). Unraveling The Resource-Based Tangle”, Managerial and Decision Economics, Vol. 24, 309-323.
[18]	Sanchez, P., Chaminade, C., and Olea, M. (2000). Management of Intangibles: An Attempt to Build A Theory, Journal of Intellectual Capital, 1 (4), 2000, 312-327.
[19]	Wiggins, R., & Ruefli, T. (2002). Sustained Competitive Advantage: Temporal Dynamics and the Incidence and Persistence of Superior Economic Performance”, Organization Science, Vol. 13, No. 1, 82-105.

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APA Style

Justus M. Kyengo, James Kilika. (2017). Strategic Assets, Competitive Capabilities and Firm Performance: Review of the Literature. Journal of Business and Economic Development, 2(3), 140-147. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jbed.20170203.11

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ACS Style

Justus M. Kyengo; James Kilika. Strategic Assets, Competitive Capabilities and Firm Performance: Review of the Literature. J. Bus. Econ. Dev. 2017, 2(3), 140-147. doi: 10.11648/j.jbed.20170203.11

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AMA Style

Justus M. Kyengo, James Kilika. Strategic Assets, Competitive Capabilities and Firm Performance: Review of the Literature. J Bus Econ Dev. 2017;2(3):140-147. doi: 10.11648/j.jbed.20170203.11

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@article{10.11648/j.jbed.20170203.11,
  author = {Justus M. Kyengo and James Kilika},
  title = {Strategic Assets, Competitive Capabilities and Firm Performance: Review of the Literature},
  journal = {Journal of Business and Economic Development},
  volume = {2},
  number = {3},
  pages = {140-147},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jbed.20170203.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jbed.20170203.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jbed.20170203.11},
  abstract = {Each firm faces a unique set of competitors when similarities among products and resources are considered to identify competitors. Despite much debate in the strategy literature on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance this debate has generated little consensus, hence the knowledge gap that the current paper seeks to fill. The objectives of the study are as follows; to review the extant theoretical literature on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance, to review the extant empirical literature on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance, to identify the gaps in literature that will help in understanding the relationship between strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance and to propose a theoretical framework based on the identified theoretical and empirical gaps. This study will be important in terms of empirical enhancement since past studies have limitation of the empirical research on strategic assets and competitiveness in regards to being imperfect comparability of results across different studies using different variables (features) describing competitiveness. This paper contributes to the theoretical research on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance not only by the synthesis of old and new writings as well as the findings of the exploratory studies, but also by concept synthesis. Since the concept of strategic assets and competitive capability can be reported to individual product/service, enterprise/farm, industry, economic sector, region, nation or international economic blocks, the attempts towards creating one common definition of strategic assets, competitive capabilities seem to be doomed to fail. This study is significance because it will be used in the developing of government policies on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and its links to performance. This is important because developing government policies to improve the business competitiveness requires an understanding the major factors that facilitate or impede firms’ ability to compete. These factors can, however, differ depending on a country, region or industry. This study will facilitate polices on public spending and taxes, exchange rates, interest rates, and government regulatory activities as some of the examples of key macroeconomic determinants of competitiveness.},
 year = {2017}
}

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PY  - 2017
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AB  - Each firm faces a unique set of competitors when similarities among products and resources are considered to identify competitors. Despite much debate in the strategy literature on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance this debate has generated little consensus, hence the knowledge gap that the current paper seeks to fill. The objectives of the study are as follows; to review the extant theoretical literature on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance, to review the extant empirical literature on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance, to identify the gaps in literature that will help in understanding the relationship between strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance and to propose a theoretical framework based on the identified theoretical and empirical gaps. This study will be important in terms of empirical enhancement since past studies have limitation of the empirical research on strategic assets and competitiveness in regards to being imperfect comparability of results across different studies using different variables (features) describing competitiveness. This paper contributes to the theoretical research on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance not only by the synthesis of old and new writings as well as the findings of the exploratory studies, but also by concept synthesis. Since the concept of strategic assets and competitive capability can be reported to individual product/service, enterprise/farm, industry, economic sector, region, nation or international economic blocks, the attempts towards creating one common definition of strategic assets, competitive capabilities seem to be doomed to fail. This study is significance because it will be used in the developing of government policies on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and its links to performance. This is important because developing government policies to improve the business competitiveness requires an understanding the major factors that facilitate or impede firms’ ability to compete. These factors can, however, differ depending on a country, region or industry. This study will facilitate polices on public spending and taxes, exchange rates, interest rates, and government regulatory activities as some of the examples of key macroeconomic determinants of competitiveness.
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Author Information

Justus M. Kyengo

Department of Business Administration, School of Business, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya
James Kilika

Department of Business Administration, School of Business, Kenyatta University, Nairobi, Kenya

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APA Style

Justus M. Kyengo, James Kilika. (2017). Strategic Assets, Competitive Capabilities and Firm Performance: Review of the Literature. Journal of Business and Economic Development, 2(3), 140-147. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jbed.20170203.11

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ACS Style

Justus M. Kyengo; James Kilika. Strategic Assets, Competitive Capabilities and Firm Performance: Review of the Literature. J. Bus. Econ. Dev. 2017, 2(3), 140-147. doi: 10.11648/j.jbed.20170203.11

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AMA Style

Justus M. Kyengo, James Kilika. Strategic Assets, Competitive Capabilities and Firm Performance: Review of the Literature. J Bus Econ Dev. 2017;2(3):140-147. doi: 10.11648/j.jbed.20170203.11

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@article{10.11648/j.jbed.20170203.11,
  author = {Justus M. Kyengo and James Kilika},
  title = {Strategic Assets, Competitive Capabilities and Firm Performance: Review of the Literature},
  journal = {Journal of Business and Economic Development},
  volume = {2},
  number = {3},
  pages = {140-147},
  doi = {10.11648/j.jbed.20170203.11},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jbed.20170203.11},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.jbed.20170203.11},
  abstract = {Each firm faces a unique set of competitors when similarities among products and resources are considered to identify competitors. Despite much debate in the strategy literature on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance this debate has generated little consensus, hence the knowledge gap that the current paper seeks to fill. The objectives of the study are as follows; to review the extant theoretical literature on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance, to review the extant empirical literature on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance, to identify the gaps in literature that will help in understanding the relationship between strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance and to propose a theoretical framework based on the identified theoretical and empirical gaps. This study will be important in terms of empirical enhancement since past studies have limitation of the empirical research on strategic assets and competitiveness in regards to being imperfect comparability of results across different studies using different variables (features) describing competitiveness. This paper contributes to the theoretical research on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance not only by the synthesis of old and new writings as well as the findings of the exploratory studies, but also by concept synthesis. Since the concept of strategic assets and competitive capability can be reported to individual product/service, enterprise/farm, industry, economic sector, region, nation or international economic blocks, the attempts towards creating one common definition of strategic assets, competitive capabilities seem to be doomed to fail. This study is significance because it will be used in the developing of government policies on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and its links to performance. This is important because developing government policies to improve the business competitiveness requires an understanding the major factors that facilitate or impede firms’ ability to compete. These factors can, however, differ depending on a country, region or industry. This study will facilitate polices on public spending and taxes, exchange rates, interest rates, and government regulatory activities as some of the examples of key macroeconomic determinants of competitiveness.},
 year = {2017}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Strategic Assets, Competitive Capabilities and Firm Performance: Review of the Literature
AU  - Justus M. Kyengo
AU  - James Kilika
Y1  - 2017/02/24
PY  - 2017
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jbed.20170203.11
DO  - 10.11648/j.jbed.20170203.11
T2  - Journal of Business and Economic Development
JF  - Journal of Business and Economic Development
JO  - Journal of Business and Economic Development
SP  - 140
EP  - 147
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2637-3874
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.jbed.20170203.11
AB  - Each firm faces a unique set of competitors when similarities among products and resources are considered to identify competitors. Despite much debate in the strategy literature on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance this debate has generated little consensus, hence the knowledge gap that the current paper seeks to fill. The objectives of the study are as follows; to review the extant theoretical literature on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance, to review the extant empirical literature on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance, to identify the gaps in literature that will help in understanding the relationship between strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance and to propose a theoretical framework based on the identified theoretical and empirical gaps. This study will be important in terms of empirical enhancement since past studies have limitation of the empirical research on strategic assets and competitiveness in regards to being imperfect comparability of results across different studies using different variables (features) describing competitiveness. This paper contributes to the theoretical research on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and firm performance not only by the synthesis of old and new writings as well as the findings of the exploratory studies, but also by concept synthesis. Since the concept of strategic assets and competitive capability can be reported to individual product/service, enterprise/farm, industry, economic sector, region, nation or international economic blocks, the attempts towards creating one common definition of strategic assets, competitive capabilities seem to be doomed to fail. This study is significance because it will be used in the developing of government policies on strategic assets, competitive capabilities and its links to performance. This is important because developing government policies to improve the business competitiveness requires an understanding the major factors that facilitate or impede firms’ ability to compete. These factors can, however, differ depending on a country, region or industry. This study will facilitate polices on public spending and taxes, exchange rates, interest rates, and government regulatory activities as some of the examples of key macroeconomic determinants of competitiveness.
VL  - 2
IS  - 3
ER  -

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