Resource-Based View

The resource-based view is a strategic management theory holding that a firm's sustained competitive advantage arises primarily from the internal resources and capabilities it controls, rather than from its position within an industry as emphasized by earlier strategy frameworks. Associated with foundational contributions by Birger Wernerfelt and later developed extensively by Jay Barney, the theory argues that resources capable of producing lasting advantage must be valuable, rare, difficult to imitate, and effectively organized within the firm. The resource-based view became one of the dominant paradigms in strategic management research from the 1990s onward and underlies later frameworks such as VRIO and dynamic capabilities.