1. Introduction and Research Question

In the lectures of “Organization Theory” much information from different perspectives was presented about the issues how the literature defines a firm, how a firm can operate most efficiently and what has to be considered to generate sustainable success. For me personally the topic “resourced-based view of a company” was the most interesting one. Therefore, I was wondering if it is possible to apply a resource-based view as an innovative perspective to support the strategic decision making process of certain management sections. During this research proposal I am going to present my research strategy to answer this question.

2. Literature Review

In order to prove the value of the research question a review of the relevant literature was undertaken. Obviously, the central element of my research question is “the resource-based view” (RBV). Therefore, I disclose which initial assumptions, approaches and results have been evolved about the RBV thematic in literature. The findings about the development of the concept are introduced chronologically. Moreover, a dissertation about a closely related topic to my research question is presented.
As for every major business concept, there exist countless definitions about the RBV. A concise and covering one might be: “A management device used to assess the available amount of a business' strategic assets. In essence, the resource-based view is based on the idea that the effective and efficient application of all useful resources that the company can muster helps to determine its competitive advantage.” (Businessdictionary)
One of the first significant citations about the RBV was done by Coase, by introducing the RBV as a theory about the nature of firms, as opposed to theories such as transaction cost economics which seeks to explain why firms exist. (Coase, 1937)
In the