Craig E. Armstrong

A Review of Approaches to Empirical Research on the Resource-Based View of the Firm†

This study reviews empirical studies of the resource-based view (RBV) and examines methodological issues and new directions that will help to clarify the value and boundaries of the RBV. Through our comprehensive review of the research design and operationalization of resource-based constructs used in 125 empirical studies, we (1) discuss key empirical issues particularly important to RBV research, (2) illustrate how researchers have or have not overcome some of these challenges, and (3) highlight two important approaches that offer promise for sharpening the boundary conditions of the RBV: an integrative framework for RBV research and utilization of nonsignificant results.

Learning orientation, integration, and supply chain risk management in Chinese manufacturing firms

Supply chain risk management (SCRM) has become a differentiating competency as networks of interdependent organisations strive to manage and prevent supply chain disruptions. However, research examining cultural and behavioural factors that may improve SCRM practice is still scarce. Drawing on the knowledge-based view of the firm and using survey data from the Chinese electronics industry, this study examines the roles of learning orientation (LO) and supply chain integration (SCI) as complementary parts of a knowledge deployment process that facilitates SCRM. The study findings demonstrate that SCI partially mediates the relationship between LO and SCRM.

Competence or flexibility? Survival and growth implications of competitive strategy preferences among small US businesses

– Research in strategic management has provided a wealth of contributions to the study of competition between firms, yet most strategic management theories were developed and refined for large firm contexts. This suggests the assumed theoretical relationships between strategy preference and performance may break down in the small business setting. , – The paper uses a data set from the National Federation of Independent Businesses to test hypotheses relating the strategy preferences of 754 small firms with the performance outcomes of survival and expected growth. , – Small businesses can focus on both survival and growth when they pursue competency-based strategies, but they risk their very survival when pursuing flexibility-based strategies. Virtually all small firms pursue strategies to compete, but some of the strategies they follow to pursue growth endanger their survival. , – Because of life-cycle and resource endowment factors, researchers should carefully parse differences between large and small firms when studying the relationship between strategy preferences and organizational performance. , – Small business owners should be aware that their choices of strategies to pursue growth may lead to unintended consequences, such as the demise of their firms. , – The paper demonstrates to researchers and practitioners how strategic preferences that presumably allow larger firms both to survive and grow do not have the same effects for smaller firms. The paper establishes boundary conditions for the effectiveness of flexibility strategies on performance in terms of firm size.

Small Business Strategies: Refining Strategic Management Theory for the Entrepreneurial and Small Business Contexts

Research in entrepreneurship has debated the differences between entrepreneurial and small business ventures for quite some time, arguing that entrepreneurial ventures are small growth-oriented, strategically-innovative firms, while small business ventures are neither growth oriented nor strategically innovative. However, scholars often treat both types of ventures analogously in terms of both construct and theory, which poses clear problems given their differences. As a result, we may have missed opportunities to advance both our understanding of new firm survival and growth and our understanding of how theoretical perspectives in strategic management apply to entrepreneurial and small business ventures. Since we understand far less about the strategies of small firms than the strategies of large firms, these problems present a substantial opportunity to refine strategic management theory for the entrepreneurial and small business contexts. Thus, in this study we examine the extent to which small firms may engage in strategic pursuits of competitive advantage to determine the applicability of strategic management theories to the contexts. We do so by empirically examining the types of strategies employed by entrepreneurial and small business ventures. Contrary to common assumptions, we find the essence of small firm strategy is to stay small. We discuss the implications of our findings for future research and practice.

The Pandora's box of social integration mechanisms

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to perform empirical tests to explore the influence of social integration mechanisms on organizations’ absorptive capacities theorized by Zahra and George.Design/methodology/approach – This study uses a cross‐sectional design to test the relationships between potential absorptive capacity, three social integration mechanisms (cross‐functional teams, participation in decision making, and self‐managing teams), and realized absorptive capacity, in a sample of 92 organizations that bid competitively to provide products and services to a US university.Findings – An organizations use of cross‐functional teams is negatively related to its realized absorptive capacity and negatively moderates the relationship between potential and realized absorptive capacity. Self‐managing teams negatively moderate the relationship between an organizations potential absorptive capacity and its realized absorptive capacity.Research limitations/implications – The cross‐sectional design allo...

Thinking And Slacking Or Doing And Feeling? Gender And The Interplay Of Cognition And Affect In New Venture Planning

Studies of the relationship between gender and entrepreneurship have shown that men are significantly more likely to start a new business than women. Because an individuals entrepreneurial intentions are shaped by the perceived feasibility and desirability of an entrepreneurial opportunity, these results have generally emphasized how men perceive themselves as more capable of pursuing entrepreneurial opportunities than women. In this study, men have a higher level of self-efficacy than do women regarding entrepreneurial abilities. At the same time, the higher levels of involvement in business planning processes caused women to have a higher sense of ownership in the plan than did men. This sense of ownership is positively and significantly related to the perceived likelihood of success of the new venture. The findings of this study suggest women adopt certain roles and affects in the development of entrepreneurial opportunities that provide alternative explanations to the beliefs-attitudes-intentions-behavior model of intentionality. The roles and affects women adopt during new venture planning may give them superior insights into the likelihood of success of the new venture.

A quest for global entrepreneurs: the importance of cultural intelligence on commitment to entrepreneurial education

This article extends the management construct of cultural intelligence (CQ) to the entrepreneurship literature by examining CQ in the context of commitment to entrepreneurial education as a proxy for entrepreneurial intentions. Using a convenience sample of students enrolled in an entrepreneurship class, we investigated the relationships of international experience, CQ and commitment to entrepreneurial education. Our findings suggest international experience is positively related to CQ (H1) and CQ is positively related to commitment to entrepreneurial education (H2). Additionally, CQ mediates the relationship between international experience and commitment (H3). This research demonstrates the usefulness of CQ within the entrepreneurial context in the expanding global economy. Discussion and areas for future research focus on further testing of the proposed relationships in other entrepreneurial populations. Also, implications for entrepreneurial training and education related to increasing CQ through study and travel/living/working abroad should be explored.

Small retailer strategies for battling the big boxes: a “Goliath” victory?

Purpose – The past 25 years have witnessed a dramatic rise in the dominance of big‐box retailers in the global retail sector and the decline of small retailers. The purpose of this paper is to explore how the intensity of competition with big box retailers moderates the relationship of strategy choice to expected growth.Design/methodology/approach – This study uses cross‐sectional survey data from a group of 199 small retailers in the USA. Hypotheses are tested using linear regression of expected growth on the use of three growth‐oriented strategies. These relationships are subjected to tests of the moderating effect of direct competition with big box retailers.Findings – This study shows that small retailers pursue strategies of offering previously unavailable goods or services, high quality, and better service to pursue future growth. The interaction effect of strategy with directness of competition with big box retailers, however, has a negative and significant effect on expected growth.Research limita...

Do research and education matter to business school rankings

Business schools have been the subject of much recent criticism. We address this criticism by examining the impact of research and education activities on student quality and overall rankings. Contrary to popular sentiment and prior literature, we find that research and education matter, and influence a school’s graduate quality and ranking. These results suggest that focusing university resource investments toward improving core activities such as research and education may bode well for a school’s students, faculty, and overall ranking.

The importance of financial market development on the relationship between loan guarantees for SMEs and local market employment rates

We empirically examine whether a major government intervention in the small-firm credit market yields significantly better results in markets that are less financially developed. The government intervention that we investigate is SBA-guaranteed lending. The literature on financing small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) suggests that small firms may be exposed to a particular type of market failure associated with credit rationing. And SMEs in markets that are less financially developed will likely face a greater degree of this market failure. To test our hypothesis, we use the level of bank deposits per capita as our relative measure of financial market development, and we use local market employment rates as our measure of economic performance. After controlling for the appropriate cross-sectional market characteristics, we find that SBA-guaranteed lending has a significantly more (less) positive impact on the average annual level of employment when the local market is relatively less (more) financially developed. This result has important implications for public policy directives concerning where SBA-guaranteed lending should be directed.