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Introduction
The resource-based view (RBV) of the firm has been frequently utilized in the management literature over the past 20 years to understand the relationship between a business unit's resources/capabilities and its performance or profitability ([40], [41] Lippman and Rumelt, 1982, 2003; [70] Wernerfelt, 1984; [58] Rumelt, 1984; [4], [5] Barney, 1986, 1991; [6] Bergh, 1998; [16] Deephouse, 2000; [36] Hult and Ketchen, 2001; [30] Hansen et al. , 2004). Its emergence as a model of business unit performance traces back to the economic theory of firm growth developed by [51] Penrose (1959) who argued that firms who possessed competencies (productive resources) and capabilities to best exploit those competencies (managerial resources) would be rewarded with the highest levels of growth and profitability. [13], [14] Day (1990, p. 38; 1994) has argued that a strategic business unit (SBU) can gain competitive advantage by developing the capabilities by which it can exploit its competencies. Though its acceptance has been somewhat controversial ([54] Priem and Butler, 2001), the RBV has been described as the dominant model by which managerial researchers have explained differences among firms ([33] Hoopes et al. , 2003). An SBU's capabilities are deeply rooted in routines and practices so are generally hard for competitors to imitate and, as a result, the SBU that develops appropriate capabilities can establish sustainable competitive advantage and maximize its growth and performance ([22] Dierckx and Cool, 1989; [33] Hoopes et al. , 2003). The relationship between resources/capabilities and performance is thus the basis of the RBV.
According to [77] Helfat and Peteraf (2003), heterogeneity of capabilities and resources in a population of firms is one of the cornerstones of the RBV ([52] Peteraf, 1993; [33] Hoopes et al. , 2003). The RBV has been used to explain competitive heterogeneity as "enduring and systematic performance differences among relatively close rivals" ([33] Hoopes et al. , 2003; [53] Peteraf and Bergen, 2003). In particular, even the closest of rivals will have unique bundles of resources/capabilities ([4] Barney, 1986; [70] Wernerfelt, 1984; [52] Peteraf, 1993). Furthermore, only some of these resources/capabilities may lead to sustained competitive advantage as they may have differential effects on actual performance. To be a source of advantage to a competitor, a resource or capability must be valuable...