Article -- Barney&Wright -- Role of human resources in gaining a competitive advantage

5 important questions on Article -- Barney&Wright -- Role of human resources in gaining a competitive advantage

Which three basic types of resources of a firm provides a competitive advantages?

- Physical capital resources --> firm's plant, equipment and finances
- Organizational capital resources --> firm's structure, planning, controlling, coordination and HR systems
- Human capital resources --> skills, judgement, intelligence of firm's employees

From which skills can you easier get a sustainable competitive advantage?

Firm-specific skills, generic skills are needed to maintain competitive parity but are transferable. Firm-specific skills are not transferable.

What are the three implications regarding competitive advantages?

1. SCA comes from firm-specific skills more than general skills
2. SCA comes from teams more than from individuals --> teams are greater sources of CA due to social complexity and causal ambiguity --> Competitors do not know where the advantage is coming from
3. SCA comes from HR systems more than from single HR practices --> HR manager needs to create synergies between the individual and HR practices where a system of interdependencies is created
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What are the four implications for HR executives?

1. Understand the value of people in the firm and their role in competitive advantage
2. Understand the economic consequences of human resource practices in the firm
3. Understand how the human resources and HR practices work in comparison to those in competing firms
4. Understand the role of human resources function in building organizational capacity for the future

What is the ultimate quest for the HR function?

Provide the firm with resources that are valuable, rare, imitable, and organize this well.

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