Which resources matter the most to firm success? An exploratory study of resource-based theory

The resource-based view of the firm (RBV) is one of the most important areas of research content to emerge in the field of strategic management in the last decade. The RBV posits that a firm's success is largely driven from resources that posses certain special characteristics. However, the RBV stream tends to be dominated by conceptual discussions. Although the empirical research body is growing rapidly, most studies concentrate on isolating only a few resources-namely intangible resources-within single industry contexts to examine resource effects on firm success. To more adequately test the main prescription of the RBV, new research approaches must be considered. This study explores one such approach. Defining the firm's resource pool to include intangible and tangible assets, a series of hypotheses are posited in order to examine the relative contribution levels of various resources on firm success. The model is tested on a sample of manufacturing and services firms operating in Australia. In the main, the results are supportive of the RBV's main prescription.