Effects of Industrial Organization Perspective and Resource-Based View on Firm Performance: The Moderating Role of Industry Characteristics

Abstract

To what degree do PIO and RBV predictions explain firm performance, and how do an industry’s resource characteristics moderate this relationship? To examine this research question, we developed a survey that was distributed to the Norwegian hotel industry. Our data collection and analysis revealed that both PIO and RBV predictions explain firm performance. Additionally, we found that resource heterogeneity, defined as a firm’s critical success factors, has a positive moderating effect on the relationship between RBV and firm performance and PIO and firm performance. This finding is in accordance with RBV theory but in conflict with the fundamental assumption in PIO. Implications based on this interesting finding will be addressed. The main contribution of this thesis is to reveal how firm performance is affected by both internal and external factors. Our study reveals that it is important to focus on both aspects to gain a superior firm performance within an industry. Especially in industries characterized by resource heterogeneity, this study contributes to the understanding of a phenomenon lacking sufficient empirical testing.