Abstract
The resource-based view of strategy seeks to explain why some firms consistently outperform rivals in the same industry by acquiring a unique set of strategic assets (or resources). However, differences between dominant managerial mental models in management teams lead to disagreement at the moment of implementing distinct resource-building strategies. This managerial and cognitive view of strategic decision making and competition lends itself to investigation through problem structuring methods. We suggest that resource maps, as a problem structuring method, can be used to interpret managerial mental models for strategic decision making in terms of resource-building processes. Through resource maps, we represent the system of asset stocks believed to be most important for driving business performance. We illustrate the framework by comparing and contrasting maps of the system of resources (asset stocks) that best characterize two leading firms in the UK commercial radio broadcasting industry.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Barney JB (1986). Strategic factor markets: Expectations, luck and business strategy. Mngt Sci 32: 1231–1241.
Bettis RA and Prahalad CK (1995). The dominant logic: Retrospective and extension. Strat Mngt J 16: 5–14.
Dierickx I and Cool K (1989). Asset stock accumulation and sustainability of competitive advantage. Mngt Sci 35: 1504–1511.
Eden C (1992). On the nature of cognitive maps. J Mngt Stud 29: 261–265.
Eden C and Ackerman F (1998). Making Strategy—The Journey of Strategic Management. Sage: London, UK.
Eden C and Ackerman F (2002). SODA—The principles. In: Mingers J and Rosenhead J (eds). Rational Analysis for a Problematic World Revisited Second Edition 2002. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd: Chichester.
Eden C and Ackerman F (2004). Using causal mapping—Individual and group, traditional and new. In: Pidd M (ed). Systems Modelling Theory and Practice 2004. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd: Chichester.
Eden C and Spender JC . (eds) (1998). Managerial and Organizational Cognition, Theory, Methods and Research 1998. Sage Publications: London.
Forrester JW (1992). Policies, decisions and information sources for modeling. Euro J Opl Res 59(1): 42–63.
Foss NJ (ed) (1997). Resources, Firms, and Strategies: A Reader in the Resource-Based Perspective. Oxford University Press: Oxford.
Hambrick DC and Mason PA (1984). Upper echelons: The organization as a reflection of its top managers. Acad Mngt Rev 9: 193–206.
Key Note (2002). Commercial Radio Market Report. Howard, J (ed). Key Note Ltd, http://www.keynote.co.uk.
Lane DC (2000a). Diagramming conventions in system dynamics. J Opl Res 51: 241–245.
Lane DC (2000b). Should system dynamics be described as a ‘hard' or ‘deterministic' systems approach? Syst Res Behav Sci 17: 3–22.
Mingers J and Rosenhead J (eds) (2002). Rational Analysis for a Problematic World Revisited. Second edition. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd: Chichester.
Mingers J and Rosenhead J (2004). Problem structuring methods in action. Euro J Opl Res 152: 530–554.
Morecroft JD (1985). Rationality in the analysis of behavioral simulation models. Mngt Sci 31: 900–916.
Morecroft JD (2002). Resource management under dynamic complexity. In: Morecroft JD, Heene A and Sanchez R (eds). Systems Perspectives on Resources, Capabilities, and Management Processes 2002. Pergamon: Oxford.
Morecroft JD (2004). Mental models and learning in system dynamics practice. In: Pidd M (ed). Systems Modelling Theory and Practice 2004. John Wiley & Sons, Ltd: Chichester.
Penrose ET (1959). The Theory of the Growth of the Firm. Basil Blackwell: Oxford.
Pidd M (2004). Contemporary OR/MS in strategy development and policy-making: Some reflections. J Opl Res Soc 55: 791–800.
Prahalad CK and Bettis RA (1986). The dominant logic: A new linkage between diversity and performance. Strat Mngt J 7: 485–501.
Rivera Ungson G, Braunstein DN and Hall PD (1981). Managerial information processing: A research review. Admin Sci Quart 26: 116–134.
Schwenk CR (1984). Cognitive simplification processes in strategic decision-making. Strat Mngt J 5: 111–128.
Shaw D, Franco A and Westcombe M (2006). Problem structuring methods: New directions in a problematic world. J Opl Res Soc 57: 757–758.
Sterman JD (2000). Business Dynamics Systems Thinking and Modeling for a Complex World. Irvine-McGraw-Hill: New York.
Tirole J (1990). The Theory of Industrial Organization. The MIT Press: Boston.
Walsh JP (1995). Managerial and organizational cognition: Notes from a trip down memory. Organ Sci 6: 280–321.
Warren K (2002). Competitive Strategy Dynamics. John Wiley & Sons Ltd: Chichester, UK.
Wernerfelt B (1984). A resource-based view of the firm. Strat Mngt J 5: 171–180.
Wolstenholme EF (2003). Towards the definition and use of a core set of archetypal structures in system dynamics. Syst Dyn Rev 19: 7–26.
Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful comments on an earlier version of the paper.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Additional information
An earlier version of this paper was presented at the 46th Annual Conference of the OR Society—Problem Structuring Methods Stream—in York, England, September 2004.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kunc, M., Morecroft, J. Resource-based strategies and problem structuring: using resource maps to manage resource systems. J Oper Res Soc 60, 191–199 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jors.2602551
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/palgrave.jors.2602551