Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

How knowledge assets lead to a sustainable competitive advantage: are organizational capabilities a missing link?

  • Article
  • Published:
Knowledge Management Research & Practice

Abstract

Even though knowledge assets have been widely recognized as the principal drivers of firm's competitive advantage, few are the frameworks that have explained how these strategic assets are transformed into value and how the value creation process occurs. Also there is a confusing terminology in the literature surrounding many concepts explaining the dynamics of value creation. By conducting a Systematic Review – an evidence-based methodology for theory building – this paper seeks to define a ‘common language’ of the concepts used to explain this phenomenon, and build the assumptions of a theoretical model that explains how knowledge assets, through learning mechanisms, are linked, renewed, and leveraged into socio-technical processes or organizational routines, that in turn form the basis of organizational capabilities. As they are socially constructed, these organizational capabilities, when leveraged into products and services, generate value and provide firms with a sustainable competitive advantage and long-term superior performance. The model should therefore serve as a theoretical contribution to the literature and it has a further potential benefit to begin an inquiry, for both theory building and management, about the nature of firm's knowledge assets and organizational capabilities, and the sources of sustainable competitive advantage. Some of these avenues are outlined in this paper.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Figure 1
Figure 2
Figure 3
Figure 4

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Amit R and Schoemaker PJH (1993) Strategic assets and organizational rent. Strategic Management Journal 14 (1), 33–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Andrews KR (1971) The Concept of Corporate Strategy. Dow Jones-Irwin, Homewood, IL.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ansoff HI (1965) Corporate Strategy. McGraw-Hill, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Argyris C and Schön DA (1978) Organizational Learning: A Theory of Action Perspective. Addison-Wesley, Boston, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bain JS (1956) Barriers to New Competition. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Barney JB (1991) Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management 17 (1), 99–120.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Barney JB (2001) Is the resource-based ‘view’ a useful perspective for strategic management research? Yes. Academy of Management Review 26 (1), 41–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boisot MH (1998) Knowledge Assets: Securing Competitive Advantage in the Information Economy. Oxford University Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Caves RE and Porter ME (1977) From competitive entry barriers to mobility barriers: conjectural decisions and contrived deterrence to new competition. Quarterly Journal of Economics 91 (2), 241–261.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chandler AD (1990) Scale and Scope: The Dynamics of Industrial Capitalism. Belknap, Cambridge, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cockburn IM, Henderson RM and Stern S (2000) Untangling the origins of competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal 21 (10/11), 1123–1145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coff RW (2003) The emergent knowledge-based theory of competitive advantage: an evolutionary approach to integrating economics and management. Managerial and Decision Economics 24 (4), 245–251.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cohen WM and Levinthal DA (1990) Absorptive capacity: a new perspective on learning and innovation. Administrative Science Quarterly 35 (1), 128–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collis DJ (1991) A resource-based analysis of global competition: the case of the bearings industry. Strategic Management Journal 12 (Winter Special Issue), 49–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collis DJ (1994) Research note: how valuable are organizational capabilities? Strategic Management Journal 15 (Winter Special Issue), 143–152.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collis DJ and Montgomery CA (1995) Competing on resources: strategy in the 1990s. Harvard Business Review 73 (4), 118–128.

    Google Scholar 

  • Conner KR (1991) A historical comparison of resource-based theory and five schools of thought within industrial organization economics: do we have a new theory of the Firm? Journal of Management 17 (1), 121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cook DJ, Mulrow CD and Haynes RB (1997) Systematic reviews: synthesis of best evidence for practical decisions. Annals of Internal Medicine 126 (5), 376–380.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coyne KP (1986) Sustainable competitive advantage – what it is, what it isn’t. Business Horizons 29 (1), 54–61.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crossan MM, Lane HW and White RE (1999) An organizational learning framework: from intuition to institution. Academy of Management Review 24 (3), 522–537.

    Google Scholar 

  • D’Aveni RA, Canger JM and Doyle JJ (1995) Coping with hyper-competition: utilizing the new 7S's framework. Academy of Management Executive 9 (3), 45–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • Demarest M (1997) Understanding knowledge management. Long Range Planning 30 (3), 374–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dierickx I, Cool K and Barney JB (1989) Asset stock accumulation and sustainability of competitive advantage. Management Science 35 (12), 1504–1513.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dosi G, Nelson RR and Winter SG (2000) Introduction. In The Nature and Dynamics of Organizational Capabilities (DOSI G, NELSON RR and WINTER SG, Eds), Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Eisenhardt KM and Martin JA (2000) Dynamic capabilities: what are they? Strategic Management Journal 21 (10/11), 1105–1121.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Feldman MS and Pentland BT (2003) Reconceptualizing organizational routines as a source of flexibility and change. Administrative Science Quarterly 48 (1), 94–118.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fiol MC and Lyles MA (1985) Organizational learning. Academy of Management Review 10 (4), 803–813.

    Google Scholar 

  • Foss N (1997) Resources and strategy: problems, open issues, and ways ahead. In Resources, Firms, and Strategies: A Reader in the Resource-based Perspective (FOSS N, Ed), pp 3–18, Oxford University Press, Oxford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Garvin D (1993) Building a learning organization. Harvard Business Review 71 (4), 78–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Geroski P and Mazzucato M (2002) Learning and the sources of corporate growth. Industrial and Corporate Change 11 (4), 623–644.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glaser BG and Strauss AL (1967) The Discovery of Grounded Theory: Strategies for Qualitative Research. Adline, Chicago.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grant RM (1991) The resource-based theory of competitive advantage: implications for strategy formulation. California Management Review 33 (3), 114–135.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grant RM (1996a) Prospering in dynamically competitive environments: organizational capability as knowledge integration. Organization Science 7 (4), 375–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grant RM (1996b) Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal 17 (Winter Special Issue), 109–122.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grant RM (1997) The knowledge-based view of the firm: implications for management practice. Long Range Planning 30 (3), 450–454.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Grant RM (2005) Foreword. In Perspectives on Intellectual Capital (MARR B, Ed), pp ix–x, Butterworth-Heinemann, Boston.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hall R (1992) The strategic analysis of intangible resources. Strategic Management Journal 13 (2), 135–144.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hall R (1993) A framework linking intangible resources and capabilities to sustainable competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal 14 (8), 607–618.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helfat CE (2000) The evolution of firm capabilities. Strategic Management Journal 21 (10/11), 955–959.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helfat CE and Peteraf MA (2003) The dynamic resource-based view: capability life-cycles. Strategic Management Journal 24 (10), 997–1010.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helfat CE and Raubitschek RS (2000) Product sequencing: co-evolution of knowledge, capabilities and products. Strategic Management Journal 21 (10/11), 961–979.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Helleloid D and Simonin B (1994) Organizational learning and a firm's core competence. In Competence-based Competition (HAMEL G and HEENE A, Eds), pp 213–239, Wiley, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henderson R and Cockburn I (1994) Measuring competence? Exploring firm effects in pharmaceutical research. Strategic Management Journal 15, 63–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hitt MA, Bierman L, Shimizu K and Kochhar R (2001) Direct and moderating effects of human capital on strategy and performance in professional service firms: a resource-based perspective. Academy of Management Journal 44 (1), 13–28.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hoopes DG, Madsen TL and Walker G (2003) Why is there a resource-based view? Toward a theory of competitive heterogeneity. Strategic Management Journal 24 (10), 889–902.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Iansiti M and Clark KB (1994) Integration and dynamic capability: evidence from product development in automobiles and mainframe computers. Industrial & Corporate Change 3 (3), 557–605.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kim D (1993) The link between individual and organizational learning. Sloan Management Review 35 (1), 37–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • King AW and Zeithaml CP (2001) Competencies and firm performance: examining the causal ambiguity paradox. Strategic Management Journal 22 (1), 75–99.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kogut B and Zander U (1992) Knowledge of the firm, combinative capabilities, and the replication of technology. Organization Science 3 (3), 383–397.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Korac-Kakabadse N, Kouzmin A and Kakabadse A (2002) Knowledge management: strategic change capacity or the attempted routinization of professionals? Strategic Change 11 (2), 59–69.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lei D, Hitt MA and Bettis R (1996) Dynamic core competences through meta-learning and strategic context. Journal of Management 22 (4), 549–567.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leseure MJ, Bauer J, Birdi K, Neely A and Denyer D (2004) Adoption of promising practices: a systematic review of the evidence. International Journal of Management Reviews 5/6 (3&4), 169–190.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leonard-Barton D (1992) Core capabilities and core rigidities: a paradox in managing new product development. Strategic Management Journal 13, 111–125.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lippman SA and Rumelt RP (1982) Uncertain imitability: an analysis of interfirm differences in efficiency under competition. Bell Journal of Economics 13 (2), 418–438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Long C and Vickers-Koch M (1995) Using core capabilities to create competitive advantage. Organizational Dynamics 24 (1), 6–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mahoney JT (1995) The management of resources and the resource of management. Journal of Business Research 33 (2), 91–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Makadok R (2003) Doing the right thing and knowing the right thing to do: why the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. Strategic Management Journal 24, 1043–1055.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marsh SJ and Stock GN (2003) Building dynamic capabilities in new product development through intertemporal integration. The Journal of Product Innovation Management 20 (2), 136–148.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mathews JA (2003) Competitive dynamics and economic learning: an extended resource-based view. Industrial and Corporate Change 12 (1), 115–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • McGaughey SL (2002) Strategic interventions in intellectual asset flows. Academy of Management Review 27 (2), 248–274.

    Google Scholar 

  • McGrath RG, MacMilan IC and Venkataraman S (1995) Defining and developing competence: a strategic process paradigm. Strategic Management Journal 16 (4), 251–275.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Michalisin MD, Smith RD and Kline DM (1997) In search of strategic assets. International Journal of Organizational Analysis 5 (4), 360–387.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Miller D (2003) An asymmetry-based view of advantage: towards an attainable sustainability. Strategic Management Journal 24 (10), 961–976.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Moingeon B, Ramanantsoa B, Metais E and Orton JD (1998) Another look at strategy-structure relationships: the resource-based view. European Management Journal 16 (3), 297–305.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Montealegre R (2002) A process model of capability development: lessons from the electronic commerce strategy at Bolsa De Valores De Guayaquil. Organization Science 13 (5), 514–533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Murray P and Donegan K (2003) Empirical linkages between firm competencies and organizational learning. The Learning Organization 10 (1), 51–62.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nahapiet J and Ghoshal S (1998) Social capital, intellectual capital, and the organizational advantage. Academy of Management Review 23 (2), 242–266.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson R and Winter S (1982) Evolutionary Theory of Economic Change. Harvard Business Press, US.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson RR (1991) Why do firms differ, and how does it matter? Strategic Management Journal 12 (Winter Special Issue), 61–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nonaka I, Toyama R and Konno N (2000a) SECI, Ba and leadership: a unified model of dynamic knowledge creation. Long Range Planning 33 (1), 5–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Nonaka I, Toyama R and Nagata A (2000b) A firm as a knowledge-creating entity: a new perspective on the theory of the firm. Industrial and Corporate Change 9 (1), 1–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pehrsson A (2000) Strategy competence: a key profitability driver. Strategic Change 9 (2), 89–102.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pemberton JD and Stonehouse GH (2000) Organizational learning and knowledge assets – an essential partnership. The Learning Organization 7 (4), 184–194.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Penrose ET (1959) The Theory of the Growth of the Firm. John Wiley, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peteraf MA (1993) The cornerstones of competitive advantage: a resource-based view. Strategic Management Journal 14 (3), 179–191.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peteraf MA and Barney JB (2003) Unraveling the resource-based tangle. Managerial and Decision Economics 24 (4), 309–323.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peteraf MA and Bergen ME (2003) Scanning dynamic competitive landscapes: a market-based and resource-based framework. Strategic Management Journal 24 (10), 1027–1041.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pittaway L, Robertson M, Munir K, Denyer D and Neely A (2004) Networking and innovation: a systematic review of the evidence. International Journal of Management Reviews 5/6 (3&4), 137–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Popay J and Williams G (1998) Qualitative research and evidence based health care. Qualitative Health Research 8 (3), 341–351.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Porter ME (1985) Competitive Strategy. Free Press, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Prahalad CK and Hamel G (1990) The core competence of the corporation. Harvard Business Review 68 (3), 79–91.

    Google Scholar 

  • Priem RL and Butler JE (2001) Is the resource-based ‘view’ a useful perspective for strategic management research? Academy of Management Review 26 (1), 22–40.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ray G, Barney JB and Muhanna WA (2004) Capabilities, business processes, and competitive advantage: choosing the dependent variable in empirical tests of the resource-based view. Strategic Management Journal 25 (1), 23–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reed R and DeFillippi RJ (1990) Causal ambiguity, barriers to imitation, and sustainable competitive advantage. Academy of Management Review 15 (1), 88–102.

    Google Scholar 

  • Richardson GB (1972) The organization of industry. Economic Journal 82 (327), 883–896.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roos G and Roos J (1997) Measuring your company's intellectual performance. Long Range Planning 30 (3), 413–426.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rouse MJ and Daellenbach US (2002) More thinking on research methods for the resource-based perspective. Strategic Management Journal 23 (10), 963–967.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rumelt RP (1984) Towards a strategic theory of the firm. In Competitive Strategic Management (LAMB B, Ed), pp 557–558, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ.

    Google Scholar 

  • Savage CM (1990) Fifth Generation Management: Co-creating through Virtual Enterprising, Dynamic Teaching, and Knowledge Networking. Butterworth-Heinemann, Newton, MA.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schiuma G and Carlucci D (2007) Knowledge asset value creation map – assessing knowledge asset value drivers using AHP. Expert Systems with Applications 32 (3), 814–821.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schiuma G, Lerro A and Sanitate D (2008) The intellectual capital dimensions of Ducati's turnaround: exploring knowledge assets grounding a change management program. International Journal of Innovation Management 12 (2), 161–193.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schiuma G, Ordonez De Pablos P and Spender JC (2007) Intellectual capital and company's value creation dynamics. International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital 4 (4), 331–341.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schoemaker PJH (1990) Strategy, complexity and economic rent. Management Science 36 (10), 1178–1192.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schroeder RG, Bates KA and Junttila MA (2002) A resource-based view of manufacturing strategy and the relationship to manufacturing performance. Strategic Management Journal 23 (2), 105–117.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Senge PM (1990) The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization. Doubleday Currency, New York.

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith KA, Vasudevan SP and Tanniru MR (1996) Organizational learning and resource-based theory: an integrative model. Journal of Organizational Change Management 9 (6), 41–53.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stalk G, Evans P and Shulman LE (1992) Competing on capabilities: the new rules of corporate strategy. Harvard Business Review 70 (2), 57–69.

    Google Scholar 

  • SubbaNarasimha PN (2001) Strategy in turbulent environments: the role of dynamic competence. Managerial and Decision Economics 22 (4,5), 201–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teece DJ (1998) Capturing value from knowledge assets: the new economy, markets for know-how, and intangible assets. California Management Review 40 (3), 55–79.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teece DJ (2000) Strategies for managing knowledge assets: the role of firm structure and industrial context. Long Range Planning 33 (1), 34–54.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teece DJ (2005) Explicating dynamic capabilities: asset selection, co-specialization, and entrepreneurship in strategic management theory. Working paper.

  • Teece DJ and Pisano G (1994) The dynamic capabilities of firms: an introduction. Industrial and Corporate Change 3 (3), 537–556.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teece DJ, Pisano G and Shuen A (1997) Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal 18 (7), 509–533.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tranfield D, Denyer D and Smart P (2003) Towards a methodology for developing evidence-informed management knowledge by means of systematic review. British Journal of Management 14 (3), 207–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tripsas M and Gavetti G (2000) Capabilities, cognition, and inertia: evidence from digital imaging. Strategic Management Journal 21 (10/11), 1147–1161.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Von Krogh G and Roos J (1995) A perspective on knowledge, competence and strategy. Personnel Review 24 (3), 56–76.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Von Krogh G, Roos J and Slocum K (1994) An essay on corporate epistemology. Strategic Management Journal 15, 53–71.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wernerfelt B (1984) A resource-based view of the firm. Strategic Management Journal 5 (2), 171–180.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiggins RR and Ruefli TW (2002) Sustained competitive advantage: temporal dynamics and the incidence and persistence of superior economic performance. Organization Science 13 (1), 82–105.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wiig KM (1997) Integrating intellectual capital and knowledge management. Long Range Planning 30 (3), 399–405.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Williams JR (1992) How sustainable is your competitive advantage? California Management Review 34 (3), 29–51.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winter SG (2000) The satisficing principle in capability learning. Strategic Management Journal 21 (10/11), 981–996.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Winter SG (2003) Understanding dynamic capabilities. Strategic Management Journal 24 (10), 991–995.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zack MH (1999) Managing codified knowledge. Sloan Management Review 40 (4), 45–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zahra SA and George G (2002) Absorptive capacity: a review, reconceptualization, and extension. Academy of Management Review 27 (2), 185–203.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zander U and Kogut B (1995) Knowledge and the speed of the transfer and imitation of organizational capabilities: an empirical test. Organization Science 6 (1), 76–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zollo M and Winter SG (1999) From organizational routines to dynamic capabilities. INSEAD R&D Working papers 99/48/SM.

  • Zollo M and Winter SG (2002) Deliberate learning and the evolution of dynamic capabilities. Organization Science 13 (3), 339–352.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zott C (2003) Dynamic capabilities and the emergence of intra-industry differential firm performance: Insights from a simulation study. Strategic Management Journal 24 (2), 97–126.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author thanks David Teece, Robert Grant, and JC Spender for their insightful suggestions and their input into the systematic review process. The author is grateful to Bernard Marr for his valuable help and contribution to the review process. All remaining errors, of course, remain the sole responsibility of the author.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Al Akhawayn University in Ifrane, Morocco

    Karim Moustaghfir

Authors
  1. Karim Moustaghfir
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Karim Moustaghfir.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Moustaghfir, K. How knowledge assets lead to a sustainable competitive advantage: are organizational capabilities a missing link?. Knowl Manage Res Pract 7, 339–355 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1057/kmrp.2009.26

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/kmrp.2009.26

Keywords

Search

Navigation