Creating a Competitive Landscape for Resource Investment: Bilateral Analyses of Capability Deployment and Control in Sino-Foreign Firms

Recent studies suggest that the competitive advantage from resource investment stems from a firm’s ability to offer innovative and highly differentiated products. We seek a practical understanding of the utility of a firm-level resource investment approach based upon competitor identification and analysis. We will investigate the reasons for variances in a firm’s financial and non-capital resource investments together with their impacts on performance. International product development capability has become increasingly important for Sino-foreign firms and the resource-based approach provides a framework that enables us to better understand complex competitive fields on resource investment choices. The study develops and tests a theoretical model of resource investment, capability deployment, control and performance on the basis that resource investment influences a firm’s international product development capability and control effectiveness. The study provides a theoretical and practical understanding of how Sino-foreign firms in China can deploy their international product development capabilities to increase competitive advantage.