Path Dependence, VRIN Resource Endowments, and Managers: Towards an Integration of Resource-Based Theory and Upper Echelons Theory

Abstract

Path dependencies associated with the firm’s evolving resource endowments lead to redundancies, which makes it sub-optimal to attain sustainable competitive advantage based on these resource bundles. In this context, managers can play a proactive role by ensuring that resource endowments continue to remain beneficial for their organizations. By suggesting such a linkage and the enabling role of managers, I provide a way to integrate core arguments of two of the foremost organizational theories in vogue: resource-based theory (RBT) and upper echelons theory (UET).