Recent contributions to strategic management and the theory of the firm collectively known as the "resource-based view of the firm" provide illuminating insights into the sources of profitability and the nature of competitive strategy. This article argues that internal resources rather than the market environment should provide the foundation for a firm's strategy. On the basis of an analysis of the relationships among resources, capabilities, conpetitive advantage, and profitability, this article advances a framework for a resource-based approach to strategy formulation.

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The Resource-Based Theory of Competitive Advantage: Implications for Strategy Formulation

We present data on ownership structures of large corporations in 27 wealthy economies, making an effort to identify ultimate controlling shareholders of these firms. We find that except in economies with very good shareholder protection, relatively few of these firms are widely-held, in contrast to the Berle and Means image of ownership of the modern corporation. Rather, these firms are typically controlled by families or the State. Equity control by financial institutions or other widely-held corporations is less common. The controlling shareholders typically have the power over firms significantly in excess of their cash flow rights, primarily through the use of pyramids and participation in management. The results suggest that the principal agency problem in large corporations around the world is that of restricting expropriation of minority shareholders by the controlling shareholders, rather than that of restricting empire building by professional managers unaccountable to shareholders.

Corporate Ownership Around the World

Today, knowledge is considered the most strategically important resource and learning the most strategically important capability for business organizations. However, many initiatives being undertaken to develop and exploit organizational knowledge are not explicitly linked to or framed by the organization's business strategy. In fact, most knowledge management initiatives are viewed primarily as information systems projects. While many managers intuitively believe that strategic advantage can come from knowing more than competitors, they are unable to explicitly articulate the link between knowledge and strategy. This article provides a framework for making that link and for assessing an organization's competitive position regarding its intellectual resources and capabilities. It recommends that organizations perform a knowledgebased SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis, comparing their knowledge to that of their competitors and to the knowledge required to execute their own strategy.

Developing a Knowledge Strategy

MORGAN K. (1997) The learning region: institutions, innovation and regional renewal, Reg. Studies 31, 491-503. A potentially significant theoretical convergence is underway between the two hitherto distinct fields of innovation studies and economic geography. Through the prism of the 'learning region' this paper examines some of the theoretical and policy implications of this convergence. Drawing on the work of evolutionary politicial economy, it highlights the significance for regional development of the interactive model of innovation. The paper then proceeds to examine the policy implication of this model by focusing, first, on a new generation of EU regional policy measures and, second, on a case study of regional innovation strategy in Wales. Finally, the paper offers a critical assessment of the distributional consequences of this strategy, posing the question: is regional innovation policy enough to address the socio-economic problems of old industrial regions? MORGAN K. (1997) La region d'apprenti...

The Learning Region: Institutions, Innovation and Regional Renewal

The organizational problem firms face is the utilization of knowledge which is not, and cannot be, known by a single agent. Even more importantly, no single agent can fully specify in advance what kind of practical knowledge is going to be relevant, when and where. Firms, therefore, are distributed knowledge systems in a strong sense: they are decentered systems, iacking an overseeing 'mind'. The knowledge they need to draw upon is inherently indeterminate and continually emerging; it is not self-contained. Individuals' stock of knowledge consists of (a) role-related normative expectations; (b) dispositions, which have been formed in the course of past socializations; and (c) local knowledge of particular circumstances of time and place. A firm has greater-or-lesser control over normative expectations, but very limited control over the other two. At any point in time, a firm's knowledge is the indeterminate outcome of individuals attempting to manage the inevitable tensions between normative expectations, dispositions, and local contexts.

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The firm as a distributed knowledge system : A constructionist approach

The theory of the growth of the firm

HILL S. and MUNDAY M. (1992) The UK regional distribution of foreign direct investment: analysis and determinants, Reg. Studies 26, 535–544. This paper analyses the regional distribution of foreign direct investment (FDI) within the UK. Following an examination of those regions that have been successful in winning new inward investment, the paper goes on to consider hypotheses that can be used to explain relative regional success in attracting new FDI projects and jobs. Empirical testing of these hypotheses suggests that both financial incentives and access to markets are important determinants of the regional distribution of new FDI projects and jobs. HILL C. et MUNDAY M. (1992) La distribution regionale de l'investissement direct etranger au Royaume-Uni: analyse et determinants, Reg. Studies 26, 535–544. Cet article cherche a analyser la distribution regionale de l'investissement direct etranger au sein du Royaume-Uni. Suite a une examination des regions qui ont reussi a attirer de nouvel investissement...

The UK Regional Distribution of Foreign Direct Investment: Analysis and Determinants

List of Tables - List of Figures - Foreword - Preface - Acknowledgements - UK Trends in Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) - The Motivation for Foreign Direct Investment - The Regional Distribution of FDI in the UK - Regional Economic Development and Inward Investment - The Determinants of the Regional Distribution of FDI - Extensions and Applications of the Model - Locate in Britain Tomorrow! The Future for Inward Investment in British Regions - Select Bibliography - Index

The Regional Distribution of Foreign Manufacturing Investment in the UK

BRAND S., HILL S. and MUNDAY M. (2000) Assessing the impacts of foreign manufacturing on regional economies: the cases of Wales, Scotland and the West Midlands, Reg. Studies 34, 343-355. This paper examines the direct and indirect contributions made by foreign manufacturing companies to the regional economies of Wales, Scotland and the West Midlands. Survey data derived from foreign manufacturers in each region were used in conjunction with regional input-output tables to assess the comparative contributions of defined foreign and domestically owned sectors to regional value added. The analyses are a starting point for the more accurate targeting of regional resources to industry sectors in the respective regional economies. BRAND S., HILLS S. et MUNDAY M. (2000) Evaluer les retombees de l'industrie etrangere sur les economies regionales: etude de cas du Pays de Galles, de l'Ecosse et des West Midlands, Reg. Studies 34, 343-355. Cet article cherche ¤ a examiner les roles direct et indirect joue par les en...

Assessing the Impacts of Foreign Manufacturing on Regional Economies: The Cases of Wales, Scotland and the West Midlands

1. Introduction 2. Time and Industrial Sociology John Hassard 3. Time and Work: A Psychological Perspective Ken Starkey 4. The Economics of Time at Work Stephen Hill 5. Time and Organization John Hassard 6. Time and Labour Relations Paul Blyton 7. Conclusions.

Stephen Hill

Papers

The theory of the growth of the firm

The UK Regional Distribution of Foreign Direct Investment: Analysis and Determinants

The Regional Distribution of Foreign Manufacturing Investment in the UK

Assessing the Impacts of Foreign Manufacturing on Regional Economies: The Cases of Wales, Scotland and the West Midlands

Time, Work and Organization