
Management Papers
Document Type
Journal Article
Date of this Version
9-2009
Publication Source
Management Science
Volume
55
Issue
9
Start Page
1570
Last Page
1585
DOI
10.1287/mnsc.1090.1040
Abstract
For empirical work in the resource-based view of the firm, characterizing the resources that are responsible for firm growth is difficult because valuable resources are often tacit, ambiguous, or difficult to identify. This is a particular problem for empirical assessments that rely upon the concept of relatedness between resources to characterize the direction of growth of the firm. We tackle the problem for the general case by developing a general interindustry relatedness index. The index harnesses the relatedness information embedded in the multiproduct organization decisions of every diversified firm in the U.S. manufacturing economy. The index is general in that it can be used across industry contexts without requiring explicit identification of resources and it provides a percentile relatedness rank for every possible pair of four-digit Standard Industrial Classification manufacturing industries. The general index is tested for predictive validity and found to perform as expected. Applications of the index in strategy research are suggested.
Keywords
relatedness, resource-based view, corporate strategy
Recommended Citation
Bryce, D. J., & Winter, S. G. (2009). A General Interindustry Relatedness Index. Management Science, 55 (9), 1570-1585. http://dx.doi.org/10.1287/mnsc.1090.1040
Date Posted: 27 November 2017
This document has been peer reviewed.