Defining Firm-Level Resource Integration Effectiveness from the Perspective of Service-Dominant Logic: A Critical Factor Contributing to the Sustainability of a Firm’s Competitive Advantage and the Ecosystem It Operates

• Published in: Sustainability Vol. 14; no. 5; p. 2717
• Main Authors: Jayasinghe, Shan, Johnson, Lester, Hewege, Chandana, Perera, Chamila
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.03.2022
• Subjects: Business competition; Ecosystems; Evaluation; Feedback; Integration; Literature reviews; Search engines; Search strategies; Strategic management; Sustainability; Systematic review
• ISSN: 2071-1050; 2071-1050
• DOI: 10.3390/su14052717

When a firm engages in repeated resource integration efforts, it develops an attribute called firm-level resource integration effectiveness (FL-RIE) over time. Due to its meta-theoretical nature, the use of this concept is limited. Thus, to make the formation of mid-range theories easier, through a systematic literature review, this study defines FL-RIE as the degree to which a firm’s resource integrating activities are successful in co-creating value, creating new resources and evaluating emerging properties of resource integration efforts. According to the definition, FL-RIE can be used to calibrate a firm’s resource integration capability in two instances. First, insights generated by FL-RIE can increase the frequency of value cocreation and new resource creation by a firm. Since increasing the frequency of value cocreation and new resource creation can ensure long-term business sustainability, FL-RIE can contribute to business sustainability. Second, insights generated by FL-RIE can improve the capability of evaluating emerging properties of resource integration efforts. Since the evaluation of emerging properties can generate feedback that can enhance resource integration capability, which can be considered a dynamic capability, FL-RIE can contribute to a firm’s sustained competitive advantage. Furthermore, since the same feedback can enhance the well-being of the other actors engaged with the firm and ensure the continuation of the ecosystem that the firm operates, FL-RIE can contribute to the sustainability of the firm and the ecosystem. The findings of this study can be used to develop a conceptual framework and a measurement scale for FL-RIE, and form several hypotheses related to strategic management and sustainability.