Information systems researchers have a long tradition of drawing on theories from disciplines such as economics, computer science, psychology, and general management and using them in their own research. Because of this, the information systems field has become a rich tapestry of theore-1 Jane Webster was the accepting senior editor for this paper. MISQ REVIEW tical and conceptual foundations. As new theories are brought into the field, particularly theories that have become dominant in other areas, there may be a benefit in pausing to assess their use and contribution in an IS context. The purpose of this paper is to explore and critically evaluate use of the resource-based view of the firm (RBV) by IS researchers. The paper provides a brief review of resourcebased theory and then suggests extensions to make the RBV more useful for empirical IS research. First, a typology of key IS resources is presented, and these are then described using six traditional resource attributes. Second, we emphasize the particular importance of looking at both resource complementarity and moderating factors when studying IS resource effects on firm performance. Finally, we discuss three considerations that IS researchers need to address when using the RBV empirically. Eight sets of propositions are advanced to help guide future research. Keywords: Resource-based view, organizational impacts of IS, information systems resources, competitive advantage, IS strategic planning, information resource management

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This article develops a model of organizational knowledge acquisition in terms of modern psychological, sociological, economic and management theories by deconstructing the terms involved: an organization as a collective agent having goals and capabilities to achieve them; knowledge as the hidden state variables imputed to an agent as the basis of its capabilities; and acquisition as the reproduction of dispositions. This form of model enables one to relate the knowledge processes involved to existing models of organizational processes, and to understand such phenomena as knowledge economics and knowledge management. The breadth of the notion of organization encompasses markets, firms and societies; the operational definition of knowledge clarifies its role and the utility of the notion; and the focus on reproduction of dispositions in knowledge acquisition enables the management of knowledge acquisition to be analyzed. ______________________________________________________________________________________ 1.

All authors contributed equally. The names are arranged in alphabetical order

Opportunity exploitation is a necessary step in creating a successful business in the entrepreneurial process, yet there has been little conceptual and empirical development of this issue in the literature. This study examines the decisions of entrepreneurs to begin exploiting business opportunitiesfrom a resource-based viewv. Our analysis of a sample of entrepreneurs whose businesses are located in incubators suggests that entrepreneurs are more likely to exploit opportunities when they perceive more knowledge of customer demand for the new product, more fully developed necessary technologies, greater managerial capability and greater stakeholder support. Moreover thefindings of this study shed a light on a less emplhasized aspect of the resource-based view: the new product's anticipated lead time acts as an enhancing moderator in entrepreneurs ' exploitation decision policies. bInplicationsforfuture research on opportunity exploitation are discussed. © 2003 Elsevier Itnc. All rights reserved. Entrepreneurship involves phenomena and processes related to discovering, evaluating, and exploiting opportunities to create future goods and services (Shane & Venkataraman, 2000). The outcome of this process is new products or services or both. Newness, however,

This paper maintains that the consistent application of subjectivism helps to reconcile contemporary entrepreneurship theory with strategic management research in general, and the resource−based view in particular. The paper synthesizes theoretical insights from Austrian economics and Penrose’s (1959) resources approach, arguing that entrepreneurship is inherently subjective and firm specific. This new synthesis describes how entrepreneurship is manifested in teams, and is driven by both heterogeneity of managerial mental models and shared team experiences.

julkisesti tarkastettavaksi yliopiston vanhassa juhlasalissa (S212)

Although the strategic group and resource based perspectives are frequently presented as mutually exclusive, we argue otherwise. The resource based view informs strategic group analysis through a firm’s product or service portfolio by offering a richer perspective on strategy and an additional lens for competitive group interpretation. Products act as the locus and bedrock for corporate decisions and form the backbone upon which market strategies are constructed. A ‘‘corporate genome’ ’ analogy is presented to illustrate how this process occurs within the U.K. pharmaceutical industry.

In this study, we tested part of the resource-based view of the firm by examining two `soft' resources, firm culture and top leadership, as predictors of `hard' or bottom-line firm performance. Transformational top leadership was found to predict firm performance directly while the link between firm culture and firm performance was indirect: via transformational top leadership. Firm culture was operationalized as the employees' views about the degree of optimization of four organizational practices (job autonomy, external orientation, interdepartmental orientation, and human resource orientation). We conclude that, rather than strong cultures, firms need best organizational practices and transformational leadership.