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Resource-Based View (RBV)

L1StrategyCompetitive advantagediagnosticStages 4 to 5

Reference model

The resource-based view of the firmSix kinds of resource (financial, physical, technological, reputation and brand, organisational, and human) combine into capabilities, which create competitive advantage and, through it, superior performance. A resource supports lasting advantage when it is valuable, rare, hard to copy and hard to substitute.RESOURCES — WHAT THE FIRM HASFinancial resourcesPhysical resourcesTechnological resourcesReputation and brandOrganisational resources (systems,culture)Human resources (skills andknow-how)CapabilitiesWhat the firmcan do bycombining itsresourcesCompetitiveadvantageWhat customersvalue and rivalscannot easilymatchSuperiorperformanceProfit above theindustry’saverageA resource supports lasting advantage when it isvaluable · rare · hard to copy · hard to substituteResources alone rarely create advantage: the combination does.

Resources combine into capabilities, which create competitive advantage and, through it, superior performance.

About this model

Instead of starting from the market, the resource-based view starts from what the firm owns and can do. Resources (financial, physical, technological, reputation, organisational, human) combine into capabilities; those that are valuable, rare, hard to copy and hard to substitute explain why some firms keep winning.

Birger Wernerfelt (1984); Jay Barney (1991); Robert Grant (1991) — the resource-based view of the firm · 1984–1991

How to read it

  • Take stock of the six kinds of resource (Grant’s classification), then rate how strong each is against your competitors and how hard it would be for them to copy.
  • Resources on their own rarely create advantage: the question is how they are combined into capabilities — what the business can do better than rivals.
  • Strong and hard-to-copy resources are the foundation to build on; gaps in either are what to fix or avoid betting on.

What this does

Builds strategy outward from the firm's own hard-to-replicate internal capabilities, rather than starting from the external market.

When to use it

Maturity, when external-market frameworks alone aren't explaining why the business still wins deals — the answer is usually internal.

What happens next

Feeds the Core Competence Framework's transferable-capability review.

Golden thread

Builds on ←

    A starting point: it needs no earlier tool.

    Feeds into →

    • corecompetence

    Framework library: Strategy and environment (layer L1), lifecycle stages 4 to 5.

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    Hand-built by Eccellere and reviewed by Eccellere on 02/11/2026. Guidance, not advice: apply your own judgement.