| This study advances understanding of the character of intangible knowledge in the resource-based view and the emerging knowledge-based view of the firm by identifying and deploying a measure of tacit knowledge. The measure is based on the invariant nature of tacit knowledge that stems from experience in the social context of the firm. Integration of the evolutionary economics of Nelson and Winter (1982) with work in cognitive and evolutionary psychology (Cosmides, Tooby, & Barkow; Reber, 1993; Reber, Walkenfeld, & Hernstadt, 1991) enabled the explication of tacit knowledge and its resulting measurement.; Tacit knowledge is stored in the routines of the firm, and is captured in the network of relationships that make up these routines. This knowledge is part of the shared, unconscious understanding by the individuals that interact in the firm. Where common understanding exists, invariance in beliefs results. Invariance in beliefs identifies where tacit knowledge is being used; however, tacit knowledge is unobservable, and the details of that knowledge cannot be discerned.; The use of invariance as a measure of tacitness enables the inimitability of competencies to be identified, and allows for the empirical examination of the relationships posited in the resource-based view. This study uses the invariance measure of tacit knowledge to quantify the inimitability of competencies. The extent and distinctiveness of competencies were measured as well, and the relationships of the three constructs with sustainable competitive advantage were evaluated.; Inimitability was found to moderate the relationship of competency and sustainable competitive advantage, and the relationship of distinctive competency and sustainable competitive advantage in the customer orientation competency.; These results of the first empirical test of the role of tacit knowledge in influencing sustainable competitive advantage provide the foundation for further testing of the relationships posited by the resource-based view. In addition, the relationships proposed by the emerging knowledge-based view of the firm are now testable. Futile suggestions of the use of interpretive analysis to investigate tacit knowledge within the knowledge-based view can now be redirected toward the use of invariance in empirical evaluations of tacit knowledge. |
