Relationships between a firm's performance and its allocation of resources to technology value-chain: An exploratory study.

摘要

A firm's allocation of resources to its technology competency has been known to have a significant influence on its performance. Technology competency can change the intensity as well as the rules of market competition. In many previous studies, the technology competency of a firm was operationalized primarily by the firm's allocation of resources to its research and development capability. This study extended that uni-variable operationalization of technology competency and included resource allocations to other complimentary capabilities in the firm's technology value-chain.;In the tradition of the resource-based view of strategy, this research joined a small group of empirical studies. Relationships between a firm's performance and its allocation of resources were tested. Comparisons were made for firms competing under different industry structures. These were measured by four-firm concentration factors. We hypothesized and tested that higher performing firms in highly concentrated industries, such as the semiconductors and related devices industry, allocate resources more intensely to their research and development capability. On the other hand, higher performing firms in a less concentrated industry, such as the pharmaceutical preparations industry, gain superior performance by allocating more resources to their market development and selling capability. Firms in the plastics materials and resins industry, with moderate concentration, were tested for their reliance on allocation of their resources to their automation and plant engineering capability. The first two hypotheses were confirmed to hold true, whereas the third hypothesis did not pass. These findings were discussed with results from other studies. Industry structure was seen to have a significant influence on the way firms allocated their resources.