Operationalisation of VRIN Type Resources : Renaissance of Resource Based View: A Study of Implementation of Rural Health Care Programmes in India

The resource based view has emerged as a significant theoretical perspective in terms of contribution to Strategic management literature. It now is trying to emerge as a perspective which is in a position to develop a theory of the firm. Yet, it faces a serious limitation of poor empirical support for its main postulates. The main reason being poor or an inherent difficulty of operationalisation of its main concepts of resources and Sustained competitive advantage. Reviews have suggested certain procedures to be followed for improved operationalisation. This paper takes a view that the key to proper operationalisation of RBV concepts lies in the proper understanding of the definitions of its key concepts. The key lies in defining the specificity of resources and their linkage to performance and therefore Sustained competitive advantage. It also means use of intervening outcome variables which show such a linkage while avoiding use of aggregate performance indicators. Based on a larger dissertation, this paper uses an iterative grounded approach to identify VRIN type resources which enabled units providing rural health care to consistently achieve programme objectives ahead of other similar units. These resources – identified as 'key resources' – were shown to be valuable because they enabled execution of multiple services in different programme activities and were essential for such an execution. They were Rare as the production of such resources was limited and they had no known substitutes except themselves and because of this were inimitable to a large extent. By identifying the logic for proper operationalisation and some key dimensions which enable identification of VRIN type resources, this paper solves a persistent and seemingly intractable issue faced by the Resource based view. In doing so it opens the path for further renaissance of this key perspective