This study contributes to the regional development and entrepreneurship literature, examining the significance of resources in the context of Uruguay’s main industries for the nation’s socioeconomic development through the lens of the resource-based theory of the firm. Face-to-face interviews were conducted with 47 key informants representing public and private entities. Alignments between the findings and the resource-based theory of the firm emerged, in that strategies implemented to improve the competitiveness of main Uruguayan industries were based on valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable, and non-substitutable resources. However, decisive external factors triggering demand, investments, and modernisation are equally significant in generating competitive advantage. A refinement of the resource-based theory of the firm based on the study’s results is proposed; implications are discussed; and future research opportunities suggested.
AmbrosiniVBowmanC (2009)
What are dynamic capabilities and are they a useful construct in strategic management?International Journal of Management Reviews11(1): 29–49.
2.
BarneyJB (1986a)
Organizational culture: Can it be a source of sustained competitive advantage?Academy of Management Review11(3): 656–665.
3.
BarneyJB (1986b)
Strategic factor markets: Expectations, luck, and business strategy. Management Science32(10): 1231–1241.
4.
BarneyJB (1991)
Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management17(1): 99–120.
5.
BarneyJB (2001)
Is the resource-based “view” a useful perspective for strategic management research? Yes. The Academy of Management Review26(1): 41–56.
6.
BarneyJBKetchenDJJrandWrightM (2011)
The future of resource-based theory: Revitalization or decline?Journal of Management37(5): 1299–1315.
7.
BiernackiPWaldorfD (1981)
Snowball sampling: Problems and techniques of chain referral sampling. Sociological Methods and Research10(2): 141–163.
8.
BrutonGDAhlstromDOblojK (2008)
Entrepreneurship in emerging economies: Where are we today and where should the research go in the future. Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice31(1): 1–14.
9.
CapronLHullandJ (1999)
Redeployment of brands, sales forces, and general marketing management expertise following horizontal acquisitions: A resource based view. Journal of Marketing63(2): 41–54.
10.
Catacora-VargasGGaleanoPAgapito-TenfenSet al. (2012) Soybean Production in the Southern Cone of the Americas: Update on Land and Pesticide Use.
Cochabamba:
GenØk/UFSC/REDES-AT/BASE-Is.
11.
CollisDJ (1994)
How valuable are organizational capabilities?Strategic Management Journal15(S1): 143–152.
12.
CollisDJMontgomeryCA (1995)
Competing on resources: Strategy in the 1990s. Harvard Business Review73(4): 118–129.
13.
DaftR (1983) Organization Theory and Design.
New York:
West.
14.
DasTKTengB-S (2000)
A resource-based theory of strategic alliances. Journal of Management26(1): 31–61.
15.
DuarteCEttkinLPHelmsMMet al. (2006)
The challenge of Venezuela: A SWOT analysis. Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal16(3/4): 233–247.
16.
EisenhardtKM (1989)
Building theories from case study research. Academy of Management Review14(4): 532–550.
17.
GraneheimUHLundmanB (2004)
Qualitative content analysis in nursing research: Concepts, procedures and measures to achieve trustworthiness. Nurse Education Today24(2): 105–112.
18.
HaysPA (2004) Case study research. In: de MarraisKLapanSD (eds) Foundations for Research: Methods of Inquiry in Education and the Social Sciences.
Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, pp. 217–234.
19.
HelmsMMRodríguezMAde los RíosLet al. (2011)
Entrepreneurial potential in Argentina: A SWOT analysis. Competitiveness Review: An International Business Journal21(3): 269–287.
20.
HoskissonREEdenLLauCMet al. (2000)
Strategy in emerging economies. The Academy of Management Journal43(3): 249–267.
21.
HsiehH-FShannonSE (2005)
Three approaches to qualitative content analysis. Qualitative Health Research15(9): 1277–1288.
IrelandRDWebbJW (2006) International entrepreneurship in emerging economies: A resource-based perspective. In: Cooper A, Alvarez S, Carrera A, et al. (eds) Entrepreneurship and Innovation in Emerging Economies. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers, pp. 47–69.
24.
KissANDanisWMCavusgilST (2012)
International entrepreneurship research in emerging economies: A critical review and research agenda. Journal of Business Venturing27(2): 266–290.
25.
KleinBLefflerK (1981)
The role of price in guaranteeing quality. Journal of Political Economy89: 615–641.
26.
KozlenkovaIVSamahaSAPalmatierRW (2014)
Resource-based theory in marketing. Journal of the Academy of Marketing Science42(1): 1–21.
27.
MakhijaM (2003)
Comparing the resource-based and market-based views of the firm: Empirical evidence from Czech privatization. Strategic Management Journal24(5): 433–451.
28.
NewbertSL (2007)
Empirical research on the resource-based view of the firm: An assessment and suggestions for future research. Strategic Management Journal28(2): 121–146.
29.
NewbertSL (2008)
Value, rareness, competitive advantage, and performance: A conceptual-level empirical investigation of the resource-based view of the firm. Strategic Management Journal29(7): 745–768.
30.
PeterafMA (1993)
The cornerstones of competitive advantage: A resource‐based view. Strategic Management Journal14(3): 179–191.
31.
PisanoVIrelandRDHittMAet al. (2007)
International entrepreneurship in emerging economies: The role of social capital, knowledge development and entrepreneurial actions. International Journal of Technology Management38(1–2): 11–28.
32.
PolkinghorneDE (2005)
Language and meaning: Data collection in qualitative research. Journal of Counseling Psychology52(2): 137–145.
33.
PorterM (1980) Competitive Strategy.
New York:
Free Press.
34.
RiusA (2015) Mandatory Livestock Traceability as a Catalyst for Knowledge Intensive Services in Uruguay. Discussion Paper No. IDB-DP-376. Washington DC, USA: Inter-American Development Bank.
35.
RoininenKArvolaALähteenmäkiL (2006)
Exploring consumers, perceptions of local food with two different qualitative techniques: Laddering and word association. Food Quality and Preference17(1–2): 20–30.
36.
SchreierM (2014) Qualitative content analyses. In: FlickU (ed) The Sage Handbook of Qualitative Data Analysis.
London:
SAGE Publications Ltd, pp. 170–183.
37.
SirmonDGHittMAIrelandRD (2007)
Managing firm resources in dynamic environments to create value: Looking inside the black box. Academy of Management Review32(1): 273–292.
38.
SosaS (2010) The Influence of ‘Big Brothers’: How Important are Regional Factors for Uruguay? IMF Working Paper 10/60. Washington, DC: International Monetary Fund.
39.
SteinCLGlennC (1979) An analysis of story comprehension in elementary school children. In: FreedleRO (ed) New Directions in Discourse Processing.
Vol.2.
Norwood, NJ:
Ablex, pp. 53–120.
WrightPMMcMahanGCMcWilliamsA (1994)
Human resources and sustained competitive advantage: A resource-based perspective. International Journal of Human Resource Management5(2): 301–326.
48.
XuDMeyerKE (2013)
Linking theory and context: ‘Strategy research in emerging economies’ after Wright et al. (2005). Journal of Management Studies50(7): 1322–1346.
49.
YinRK (1981)
The case study crisis: Some answers. Administrative Science Quarterly26(1): 58–65.
50.
YinRK (1994)
Discovering the future of the case study. Method in evaluation research. Evaluation Practice15(3): 283–290.
51.
YoungMNTsaiTWangXet al. (2014)
Strategy in emerging economies and the theory of the firm. Asia Pacific Journal of Management31(2): 331–354.
52.
ZhouKZLiCB (2010)
How strategic orientations influence the building of dynamic capability in emerging economies. Journal of Business Research63(3): 224–231.
