Operations management research grounded in the resource-based view: A meta-analysis

The resource-based view (RBV) has long been adopted in strategic management research, but its use in operations management (OM) research is relatively new. Many empirical studies based upon RBV have investigated OM functions/capabilities and their impacts on business performance. Despite the considerable amount of research that has been conducted, there is no meta-analysis of application of RBV in the OM field. Hitt et al. (2016) reviewed the use and application of RBV in OM, based upon studies published in nine elite OM journals in the period 2007–2013. We take a meta-analytic approach to statistically combine and critically analyse application of RBV in OM over the period 2007–2020. We identify three primary operational functions/capabilities, namely flexibility, supply chain integration, and organizational capability, that have a positive impact on business performance in general, and on competitive performance, financial performance, and operational performance in particular. This study contributes to the literature on application RBV in OM and provides future research directions.