Human Resource-based Competitive Advantage: The Case of Motivational Rents

Abstract

Volume 5 • Issue 1 • 1000162 J Entrepren Organiz Manag ISSN: 2169-026X JEOM an open access journal 1, Arrows 3 and 4). Such a theory would complement the KBV in the sense that it would capture the two relevant aspects of the human resource base: its skill set and its level of motivation. Our goal in this paper is to develop a theory of whether, and under what circumstances, human resource practices aimed at the creation of high levels of aggregate employee motivation can be a source of sustainable competitive advantage. To this end, we review the literature in social psychology and economics to develop a three-dimensional conceptual framework of the antecedents and consequences of employee motivation in an organizational setting. We highlight the possibility that, under standard assumptions, organizations are indeed able to capture some of the performance advantage available from superior levels of employee motivation. We then shift our attention to ask if and when a motivation-based competitive advantage stemming from a valuable and rare set of human resource practices might be sustainable despite competitive pressures. From the corresponding analysis we conclude that human resource practices for enhancing motivation are most successful, and most sustainable, when they are tacit, causally ambiguous and context specific. To be clear, the question of the strategic relevance of motivation for organizational performance and competitive advantage has surfaced in some recent contributions in the strategic management field. Managerial rent theory) [26,27], for example, submits that skills with rent-generation potential are a necessary, but not sufficient, condition for rent generation. It also points out the importance of motivation for realizing that potential. Similarly, Makadok [24], has called for future research on the genesis of competitive advantage that combines knowledge-based issues with questions of governance or motivation. Gambardella et al. [16], argued based on an analytical model that firms can motivate knowledge workers by offering them opportunities to increase personal benefits through autonomy in the decision-making process.