Effects of Knowledge Development and Culture of Competitiveness on the Performance of Service-Oriented and Product-oriented Firms

The resource-based view explains why some firms outperform others, obtaining superior rents from strategic resources. The challenge is in the measurement of strategic resources, for example, knowledge, and their effects on firm performance. Moreover, results may differ depending upon the unit of analysis (supply chains versus individual firms, manufacturing-oriented versus service-oriented companies), the moderating variables used (e.g., turbulence), and the ways data was collected (e.g., different questionnaires in different countries). To systematically address these challenges in the existing knowledge, this paper measures the role of knowledge development and culture of competitiveness on firm performance. Empirical evidence is collected from a survey with 843 valid responses from Brazilian firms, tested through linear regressions. The importance of knowledge on firm performance is reaffirmed; however, under turbulent market conditions, performance is impacted differently: while product-oriented firms have to increase efforts on knowledge development (specially through process management), service-oriented focus on their culture of competitiveness (specially through process flexibility). Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.