The Development Paths of Non-Strategic Capabilities

While the resource-based view of the firm has provided many useful insights, our understanding of how non-strategic capabilities develop remains limited. This article investigates the necessity and nature of non-strategic capability development, and contrasts how non-strategic capabilities are developed with the development process of strategic capabilities according to the resource-based theory. By demonstrating that the development paths of non-strategic capabilities can be very different based on the nature of the business unit and the complementary resources and capabilities it supports, this study extends existing theories of capability development and provides normative suggestions to practitioners on the development of non-strategic capabilities.