Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-14T08:02:37.288Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Intangible Economy and Firm Superior Performance: Evidence from Australia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 February 2016

Jeremy Galbreath
Jeremy Galbreath*
Affiliation:
1229 Hoyt Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46203, Phone: + 317-423-0349, Fax: + 317-423-0054, Email: jeremygalbreath@hotmail.com
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Scholars suggest that in the ‘intangible’ economy, firms need to exploit intangible, rather than tangible resources to generate superior performance. In this study, we theoretically developed the proposition that intangible assets and capabilities would be linked to superior performance while tangible assets would be linked to low performance. Drawing upon a broad sample of manufacturing and services firms in Australia and by segmenting out the central cluster of firms, we found that tangible resources were linked to low performance while as hypothesised, intangible assets and capabilities were linked to superior performance. Studies such as the present one offer some support for resource-based theory which argues that in today's economy, resources that are intangible in nature are more likely to be sources of competitive advantage than resources that are tangible in nature.

Type
Research Article
Information
Journal of Management & Organization , Volume 11 , Issue 1 , January 2005 , pp. 28 - 40
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press and Australian and New Zealand Academy of Management 2005 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Amit, R., & Schoemaker, P. 1993. Strategic assets and organisational rents. Strategic Management Journal, 4: 33–47.Google Scholar
Armstrong, J., & Overton, T, 1977. Estimating nonresponse bias in mail surveys. Journal of Marketing Research, 14: 396–402.Google Scholar
Barney, J.B. 1986. Strategic factor markets: Expectations, luck, and business strategy. Management Science, 10: 1231–1241.Google Scholar
Barney, J.B. 2001. Resource-based theories of competitive advantage: A ten-year retrospective on the resource-based view. Journal of Management, 27 (Special Issue): 643–650.Google Scholar
Bell, D. 1973. The coming of post-industrial society. New York; Basic Books.Google Scholar
Bharadwaj, S.G., Varadarajan, P.R., & Fahy, J. 1993. Sustainable competitive advantage in service industries: A conceptual model and research propositions. Journal of Marketing, 57: 83–99.Google Scholar
Birch, D. 2002. Corporate citizenship in Australia: Some ups, some downs. Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 5: 73–84.Google Scholar
Brynjolfsson, E., & Yang, S. 1999. The intangible costs and benefits of computer investments: Evidence from the capital markets. Working Paper. Cambridge, MA: MIT Sloan School of Management.Google Scholar
Caloghirou, Y., Protogerou, A., Spanos, Y., & Papagiannakis, L. 2004. Industry- versus firm-specific effects on performance: Constrasting SMEs and large-sized firms. European Management Journal, 22: 231–243.Google Scholar
Canals, J. 2000. Managing corporate growth. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Carmeli, A., & Tishler, A. 2004. The relationships between intangible organisational elements and organisational performance. Strategic Management Journal, 25: 1257–1278.Google Scholar
Castanias, R.E., & Helfat, C.E. 2001. The managerial rents model: Theory and empirical analysis. Journal of Management, 27 (Special Issue): 661–678.Google Scholar
Collis, D.J. 1994. How valuable are organisational capabilities? Strategic Management Journal, 15 (Special Issue): 143–152.Google Scholar
Clement, W., Hammerer, G., & Schwarz, K. 1998. Intangible investments from an evolutionary perspective. OECD Publication: Institut für Volkswirtschaftstheorie und Politik Wirtschaftsuniversität.Google Scholar
Collis, D.J., & Montgomery, C.A. 1995. Competing on resources: Strategy in the 1990s. Harvard Business Review, 73: 118–28.Google Scholar
Conner, T. 2002. The resource-based view of strategy and its value to practicing managers. Strategic Change, 11: 307–316.Google Scholar
Crossan, M., Lane, H.W., & White, R.E. 1999. An organisational learning framework: From intuition to institution. Academy of Management Review, 24: 522–537.Google Scholar
Daley, J. 2001. The intangible economy and Australia. Australian Journal of Management, 26 (Special Issue): 3–19.Google Scholar
Das, T.K., & Teng, B.S. 2000. A resource-based theory of strategic alliances. Journal of Management, 26: 31–61.Google Scholar
D'Aveni, R. 1994. Hypercompetition: Managing the dynamics of strategic maneuvering. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
D'Aveni, R. 1995. Coping with hypercompetition: Utilizing the new 7S's framework. Academy of Management Executive, 9: 45–60.Google Scholar
D'Aveni, R. 1997. Waking up to the new era of hypercompetition. The Washington Quarterly, 21: 183–195.Google Scholar
Davis, J.H., Schoorman, D., Mayer, R.C., & Hoon Tan, H. 2000. The trusted general manager and business unit performance: Empirical evidence of a competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal, 21: 563–576.Google Scholar
Day, G.S. 1994. The capabilities of market-driven organisations. Journal of Marketing, 58: 37–52.Google Scholar
Day, G.S., & Wensley, R. 1988. Assessing advantage: A framework for diagnosing competitive superiority. Journal of Marketing, 52: 1–20.Google Scholar
Dess, G.G., & Robinson, R.B 1984. Measuring organisational performance in the absence of objective measures: The case of privately-held firm and conglomerate business unit. Strategic Management Journal. 5: 265–273.Google Scholar
Dierickx, I., & Cool, K. 1989. Asset stock accumulation and sustainability of competitive advantage. Management Science. 35: 1504–1511.Google Scholar
Eustace, C. 2000. The intangible economy: Impact and policy issues. Report of the European high level expert group on the intangible economy. Brussels: European Commission. Enterprise Directorate-General.Google Scholar
Fahy, J. 2000. The resource-based view of the firm: Some stumbling-blocks on the road to understanding sustainable competitive advantage. Journal of European Industrial Training, 24: 94–104.Google Scholar
Fingleton, E. 1999. In praise of hard industries. New York: Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar
Fraser, J., & Oppenheim, J. 1997. What's new about globalisation? McKinsey Quarterly, 2.Google Scholar
Galbreath, J. 2002. Success in the relationship age: Building quality relationship assets for market value creation. The TQM Magazine, 14: 8–24.Google Scholar
Geringer, J., & Hebert, L. 1991. Measuring performance of international joint ventures. Journal of International Business Studies, 22: 249–263.Google Scholar
Grant, R.M. 1991. The resource-based theory of competitive advantage: Implications for strategy formulation. California Management Review, 33: 114–135.Google Scholar
Grant, R.M. 1996. Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17 (Special Issue): 109–122.Google Scholar
Grant, R.M. 2002. Contemporary strategy analysis (4th ed.). Oxford, England: Blackwell Publishers.Google Scholar
Hair, J. E. Jr., Anderson, R. E., Tatham, R. L., & Black, W. C. 1995. Multivariate data analysis (4th ed.). New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Hall, R. 1992. The strategic analysis of intangible resources. Strategic Management Journal, 13: 135–144.Google Scholar
Handy, C. 1989. The age of unreason. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.Google Scholar
Harvey, M., Novicevic, M.M., & Kiessling, T. 2001. Hypercompetition and the future of global management in the twenty-first century. Thunderbird International Business Review, 43: 599–616.Google Scholar
Hill, C.W.L., Jones, G.R., & Galvin, P. 2004. Strategic management. Milton, Queensland, Australia: John Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Hitt, M.A., Bierman, L., Shimizu, K., & Kochhar, R. 2001. Direct and moderating effects of human capital on strategy and performance in professional services firms: A resource-based perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 44: 13–28.Google Scholar
Hitt, M.A., Keats, B.W., & DeMarie, S.M. 1998. Navigating in the new competitive landscape: Building strategic flexibility and competitive advantage in the 21st century. Academy of Management Executive, 12: 22–42.Google Scholar
Hoopes, D.G., Madsen, T.L., & Walker, G. 2003. Guest editors' introduction to the special issue: Why is there a resource-based view? Toward a theory of competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal, 24 (Special Issue): 899–902.Google Scholar
Hunt, S.D. 1997. Resource-advantage theory: An evolutionary theory of competitive behaviour? Journal of Economic Issues, 31: 59–77.Google Scholar
Huselid, M. 1995. The impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance. Academy of Management Journal, 38: 635–672.Google Scholar
Itami, H., & Roehl, T.W.. 1987. Mobilizing invisible assets. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press 1987.Google Scholar
Klein, J.A., Edge, G.M., & Kass, T. 1999. Skill-based competition. Journal of General Management, 16: 1–15.Google Scholar
Licht, M.H. 1995. Multiple regression and correlation. In Grimm, L.G. & Yarnold, P.R. (Eds.), Reading and understanding multivariate statistics: 19–64. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.Google Scholar
Mahoney, J. T., & Pandian, J. R. 1992. The resource-based view within the conversation of strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 13: 363–380.Google Scholar
Mailath, G.J. 1998. Do people play Nash equilibrium? Lessons from evolutionary game theory. Journal of Economic Literature, 36: 1347–1374.Google Scholar
Makadok, R. 1999. Interfirm differences in scale economies and the evolution of market shares. Strategic Management Journal, 20: 935–952.Google Scholar
Mandel, M.J. 2000. The coming Internet depression. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
McEvily, S.K., & Chakravarthy, B. 2002. The persistence of knowledge-based advantage: An empirical test for product performance and technological knowledge. Strategic Management Journal, 23: 285–305.Google Scholar
Michalisin, M.D., Smith, R.D., & Kline, D.M. 1997. In search of strategic assets. The International Journal of Organisational Analysis, 5: 360–387.Google Scholar
Michalisin, M.D., Smith, R.D., & Kline, D.M. 2000. Strategic intangible assets and firm performance: A multi-industry study of the resource-based view. Journal of Business Strategies, 17: 91–118.Google Scholar
Pearce, J.A., Robbins, D.K., & Robinson, R.B. 1987. The impact of grand strategy and planning formality on financial performance. Strategic Management Journal, 8: 125–134.Google Scholar
Porter, M.E. 1991. Towards a dynamic theory of strategy. Strategic Management Journal, 12 (Special Issue): 95–117.Google Scholar
Pine, J. 1993. Mass customisation. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Press.Google Scholar
Powell, T.C., & Dent-Micallef, A. 1997. Information technology as competitive advantage: The role of human, business, and technology resources. Strategic Management Journal, 18: 375–405.Google Scholar
Prahalad, C.K., & Hamel, G. 1990. The core competence of the corporation. Harvard Business Review, 68: 79–91.Google Scholar
Ray, G., Barney, J.B., & Muhanna, W.A. 2004. Capabilities, business processes, and competitive advantage: Choosing the dependent variable in empirical tests of the resource-based view. Strategic Management Journal, 25: 23–37.Google Scholar
Reed, R., & DeFillippi, R.J. 1990. Causal ambiguity, barriers to imitation, and sustainable competitive advantage. Academy of Management Review, 15: 88–102.Google Scholar
Rose, C., & Thomsen, S. 2004. The impact of corporate reputation on performance: Some Danish evidence. European Management Journal, 22: 201–210.Google Scholar
Rouse, M.J., & Daellenbach, U.S. 1999. Rethinking research methods for the resource-based perspective: Isolating sources of sustainable competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal, 20: 487–494.Google Scholar
Saint-Onge, H. 1996. Tacit knowledge: The key to the strategic alignment of intellectual capital. Strategy and Leadership, 24: 10–14.Google Scholar
Stewart, T.A 1997. Intellectual capital: The new wealth of organisations. New York: Doubleday/Currency.Google Scholar
Sveiby, K.E. 1997. The new organisational wealth. San Francisco, CA: Berret-Kohler Publishers.Google Scholar
Teece, D.J. 1998. Capturing value from knowledge assets: The new economy, markets for know-how, and intangible assets. California Management Review, 40: 55–79.Google Scholar
Teece, D.J. 2000. Strategies for managing knowledge assets: The role of firm structure and industrial context. Long Range Planning, 33: 35–54.Google Scholar
Toffler, A. 1971. Future shock. New York: Bantam Books.Google Scholar
Toffler, A. 1981. The third wave. New York: Bantam Books.Google Scholar
Venkatraman, N., & Ramanujam, V. 1987. Measurement of business economic performance: An examination of method convergence. Journal of Management, 13: 109–122.Google Scholar
Wernerfelt, B. 1989. From critical resources to corporate strategy. Journal of General Management, 14: 4–12.Google Scholar
Wilcox-King, A., Fowler, S.W., & Zeithaml, C.P, 2001. Managing organisational competencies for competitive advantage: The middle-management edge. Academy of Management Executive, 15: 95–106.Google Scholar