Corporate Resources And Competitive Advantage: Research, Theory And Experience Of The Private Manufacturing Enterprises In Zhejiang

It's a popular subject in current business strategic management research exploring firm competitive advantage source from firm resource and capability perspective. The resource-based theory of the firm (hereafter RBT) holds that firm competitive advantage bases on valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and non-substitutional resources. Empirical studies on this theory explore firm competitive advantage source from firm resources and capabilities matching above conditions, measure their attributes, link them with firm competitive advantage characteristics or corresponding performance indicators, and examine relationships among firm resources, capabilities and competitive advantage, so find out key resources, and validate corresponding hypothesizes.RBT is contingent with its applied environments. Empirical studies on Chinese private firms based on this theory can not only get insights different from similar foreign studies, but also explore the inherent relationship among firm resources, capabilities and competitive advantage in Chinese market background. So we can put forward strategic advice and guidance for Chinese private firms to achieve further competitive advantage from firm resource and capability perspective.Taking a representative sort of firm in Chinese economy transitionprocess-private manufacturing enterprises in Zhejiang as empirically studiedobject, this research focuses on two issues:First, how do firm recourses and capabilities affect firm competitive advantage? Of firm resources and capabilities, which form directly main source of firm competitive advantage?Second, what is inherent link mechanism among firm resources, capabilities and firm competitive advantage?Guided by above issues, this research constructs firm resource and capability system, develops a survey questionnaire measuring entirely firm resources, capabilities and competitive advantage, and examines relationship among firm resources, capabilities and competitive advantage. This research decomposes firm resources and capabilities of private manufacturing enterprises in Zhejiang according to their resource combination and developing situation. In detail, these firm resourcesinclude: financial resource, human resource, manufacturing capability, technological innovation capability, administrative capability, marketing capability, reputation resource, relationship resource and entrepreneurial competence. To examine inherent relationship among firm resources, capabilities and competitive advantage, this research goes on two stages. In the first stage, this research builds up a direct model examining direct relationship among firm resources, capabilities and firm competitive advantage whose basic conceptional framework is "firm entire resources and capabilities firm competitive advantage". Its intention is to examine relative impact of firm resources and capabilities on firm competitive advantage and to find out key firm resources and capabilities. In the second stage, based on direct relationship model, this research decomposes firm entire resources into two groups, i.e. primary resources and supportive resources, builds up an indirect model where primary resources are direct source of firm competitive advantage and supportive resources affect indirectly firm competitive advantage through making contribution to primary resources. Basic conceptional framework of indirect model is "firm supportive resources firm primary resources firm competitive advantage". It is to explore inherent link mechanisms among firm resources and capabilities, and their interact and synergy impact on firm competitive advantage.Based on a survey of 254 private manufacturing enterprises in Zhejiang, taking structural equation modeling as a statistic method, this research analyzes and validates above direct and indirect model. Through analysis on direct model, this research finds out that firm resources and capabilities all have significantly positive impacts on firm competitive advantage and among firm resources and capabilities, manufacturing capabil...