A resource-based perspective of growth through strategic change: A longitudinal view

This study examines growth in terms of the longitudinal development of a firm's resource base in an industry that has been deregulated. To understand the process of firm growth, the study draws upon the resource-based view of the firm, the strategic change literature, and the life cycle research. The study demonstrates that firms strategically change their resource base over time. These strategic changes are made in response to environmental variation and based upon the firm attempting to create environment change through the development of unique resource positions. The sequencing of a firm's resource development decisions can be seen as a process by which firms achieve long term growth.; This study produces major findings with respect to the relationship between a firm's resource development decisions and the impact of these decisions upon firm growth. The research demonstrates that a specific sequencing of a firm's resource development decisions leads to higher firm growth than other types of resource sequencing decisions.; The study demonstrates that a firm must build a resource path that can be altered based upon the direction of environmental variation. The path direction is theoretically linked to the concept of a resource based life cycle. It is interesting to conjecture if this resource-based life cycle path exists in other industries that have been deregulated. The final finding of this study shows that the sequencing of a firm's resource development decisions can be seen as a process by which firms achieve long term growth.