In the knowledge economy era, a firm¡¦s competitive edge increasingly depends on the possession of knowledge and intellectual capital. Knowledge becomes the key resource for firms, and firms must increase the attention they pay to knowledge management. A very important issue regarding intra-firm knowledge transfer is to identify the model and circumstances in which knowledge can effectively be transferred. The objective of this study is to demonstrate the typology of intra-firm knowledge transfer executed by different semiconductor firms. Multiple case study approach is adopted to identify the pattern of knowledge and technology transfer in this study. In order to analyses knowledge transfer activities, four semiconductor firms were studied with qualitative method. Multiple sources of evidence are gathered, including documents, interviews, and internal reports. Synthesizing the knowledge transfer practices of these firms, this study demonstrates three models for intra-firm knowledge transfer. These knowledge transfer models have important implications for technology and knowledge management. First, deploying these transfer models, replication strategies can apply to the manufacturing sector, including high-tech firms. Manufacturing firms can transfer manufacturing processes between business units and achieve synergy effects or performance consistency. Second, these transfer models validate the contingency theory since various situations induce different transfer models. Third, from these cases we can understand that external benchmarking may not always be the best way to solve problems and maintain competitive advantage. Resource-based theory maintains that firms can retain competitive edge by efficiently and effectively applying practices developed in-house.

For the past years more and more well-managed middle-size enterprises in Taiwan have tried to be more competitive and become multination-base enterprises through diversification. A lot of research indicates that the diversification can result in unique competitive advantages. However it also indicates that the degree of diversification is no more one of the important indexes of business performance. This study was conducted to investigate how to integrate resources within a diversified enterprise to create the management synergies and channel them back to subsidiaries for more growth. Based on various theories regarding resource-base view, diversification, resource building and resource leverage, this study empirically documented that the resource integration among subsidiaries is positively related to the existence of business groups and their growth within a mature industry. The results of this study indicate that: 1. Business profits can be generated through resource-integration strategy even during the period of a macro-economic recession. 2. Either related diversification and unrelated diversification could be achieved when enterprises are able to effectively use related techniques and resources. 3. The diversified enterprises can exploit resources to create new management synergy through resource building, resource leverage and resource integration. 4. Whether resource integration can be achieved hinges heavily on the subsidiaries willingness to cooperate. Key Words: Resource-Based View Theory, Diversification, Resource Leverage, Resource Building, Resource-Integration, And Business Performance

Taiwan has listed on developed countries, people in Taiwan are more and more emphasis on leisure activities following on the higher income, increased GNP and changed life style of aging society. Besides, 5-working-day scheme and promotion of tourism and leisure industries have become Taiwan government¡¦s important policy. Tourism and leisure industries is a tremendous potential market, which implies billions of dollars treasure there. Moreover, tourism and leisure industries can help Taiwan government to resolve high un-employee problems. I believe that this potential emerging market of leisure and tourism industries may draw more and more attention from authorities and interested parties. So as this paper hi-lights leisure industries and takes a case study of Shitzuwan Beach Resort. From business operational environment point of view, there are certain factors that cause an enterprise operates very successfully in its field, these certain factors are well known as key success factors. On the other hand, resource-based view is looking into and focusing an enterprise¡¦s internal resources and its capabilities, this theory has been implemented since 1990 and becomes a fad now a day. From resource-based view, the formation of competitive advantage of a firm is weather or not its resources and capabilities match with key success factors, this model of ¡uresource and core competence ¡÷ key success factors ¡÷ competitive advantage¡vhave been proved by the ¡ucompetitive advantage matrix analysis model¡v whereas the model created by the author. The main purpose of this paper therefore, is to contribute to the theoretical creation of competitive advantage matrix analysis model, this model is based on two dimensions of key success factors¡]KSF¡^and resource-based view¡]RBV¡^, through this competitive advantage matrix can illustrates the types of competitive advantage and intensive of competitive advantage of the designated enterprise. The result of matrix analysis also gives hints for the enterprises to overview and to reinforce his internal resources as well as core competence, so as to keep and create its competitive advantage. Key Words¡GKey Success Factor¡]KSF¡^, Resource-based View¡]RBV¡^, Core Competence, Competitive Advantage, Competitive Advantage Matrix Analysis.

¡@¡@Since the release of 3G licenses in Taiwan telecommunication industry in 2001, the mobile value-added service application market hasn't matured yet to meet the public expectation, built up the service application ecosystem like NTT Decoma in Japan. However, a new and popular telecommunication standard, WiMAX (Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access) appeared and was referred to the most possible standard to compete as the 4th or even final generation these years for its tech advantage and promotion. In 2007, National Communications Commission has released 6 operating licenses, including FAREASTON Telecom, TATUNG InfoComm, VASTAR CABLE SYSTEM, FIRST INTERNATIONAL TELECOM, GLOBAL MOBILE and VMAX Telecom. Thus WiMAX is expected as the application platform which will likely succeed to develop digital content and mobile value-added service. ¡@¡@Because WiMAX Operators are promising industry in preparation stage, the study based on Resource-based View attempts to utilize the concept structure of Strategic Integration Model macroly, which operating scope, core resource and business network interact each other, designing a suitable case analyzing matrix model to study how Taiwan WiMAX Operators carry out the strategic deployment of mobile value-added services, induct the applying patterns of WiMAX moible service and generalize the key success factor.

Traditionally, research investigating marketing's role and influence within the firm has focused on the marketing department and its ability to affect future firm strategies. Consequently, little is known about the antecedents of a Chief Marketing Officer's (CMO) role or influence. Yet the position of CMO is quite unique. Unlike other executive officers (e.g., CFOs), no reliable external validation or accreditation is generally recognized, required, or mandated. Similarly, firms are increasingly calling for their CMOs to justify their own existence, and many are even considering abandonment of the position entirely.The goal of this investigation is to understand how CMOs can generate influence within their respective firms given a lack of reliable external credentials. However, the current business press seems to suggest that there currently exists a great bias towards marketing in general and CMOs in particular. As a result, the current investigation uses a competing models approach to study CMO influence. Drawing upon the literature pertaining to competition, the author suggests that individuals, like firms, can generate their own competitive advantage by possessing unique bundles of resources (e.g., information). This is the common element in both models. As the uniqueness of the information provided by the CMO increases, other executive officers within the firm are more likely to confer expertise power to the CMO, which in turn leads to greater influence. The two models diverge as organizational legitimacy is introduced. In one model, the Socially Contingent model, the CMO can only garner expertise power to the extent that s/he possesses organizational legitimacy. In such a case, CMOs that lack organizational legitimacy will be unable to realize any gains in expertise power regardless of the uniqueness of their informational resources (i.e., organizational legitimacy moderates the relationship between the uniqueness of the information provided and expertise power). In the second model, the Merit-Based model, organizational legitimacy mediates the relationship between a CMO's expertise power and his/her influence. As a CMO's perceived expertise increases, other executive officers are more likely to support the CMO's initiatives, which in turn lead to greater influence during strategy design and implementation.

This study investigates the relationship between firm resources, positioning strategies and performance in the smaller firm. Porter’s generic strategies have been useful in describing how firms compete in the marketplace, and the resource based view has shown that resources can lead to a sustained competitive advantage. The strategic management field has begun to combine the two theories and examine the link between them. Small firms must make the best use of their relatively scarce resources. It is proposed that the relationship between resources and performance is contingent upon the positioning strategy the firm competes on, although there has only been limited supporting research to date. This research builds on work by Edelman et al. (2005) by examining the relationship between human, organisational and physical resources, and the strategies of quality/ customer service, innovation, and cost leadership in 447 retail, engineering, and professional service firms in New Zealand. Using Structural Equations Modelling this research finds that positioning strategies are the mechanism by which firms can leverage their resources into higher performance. This relationship can be modelled as mediated or moderated, with statistical analysis sensitive to model complexity. The firm’s environment influences this relationship with different resources required to support each position depending on the industry. Specifically human, organisational, and physical resources appear to be viable sources of competitive advantage when they are leveraged by a strategy of quality/ customer service, innovation or cost leadership when the industry environment is conducive to the resource – strategy combination.

Background: In a world that is becoming more knowledge-based and where it gets harder to find value-adding employees, employer branding could be used as a way to attract and retain employees, which later can create competitive advantage. Research Question: In order to experience competitive advantage, how do SMEs use the strategies and tools of employer branding as a way to attract and retain value-adding employees? Purpose: The purpose with this study was to explore how employer branding is used by SMEs as a way to experience competitive advantage. Method: A qualitative research method with six case studies of SMEs located in different industries was adopted. Primary data was based on semi-structured interviews with respondents at the different SMEs. Theoretical framework: With the basis of the RBV, theories about this and the human capital as a resource as well as a competitive advantage, is presented. This continues with theories about the employer brand, attractive attributes about employers, employer branding strategies, and what the outcomes of employer branding is.  Findings and Conclusions: SMEs do not use the strategies and tools of employer branding in the generic way. Instead, much communication is carried out first when the recruitment process starts, with the aim to find employees who could deliver competitive advantage through their fit with the organization. Once onboard, different benefits are provided in order to retain them. Involvement and engagement are the most prominent ones, due to SMEs ability to offer cross-functional management.

Organizations are becoming increasingly dependent on information technology for different purposes, such as project and resource-management systems, cooperative work systems and organizational memory systems. There is a need to make a dynamic roadmap for IT capability usage to facilitate organizational performance. The aim of this research is to gain a deeper understanding of the role of IS Strategy in utilizing IT capabilities for operationalizing and integrating business process information for the purpose of organizational performance from the lens of the resource-based view (RBV). This research makes use of single case study analysis of a construction organization in the oil and gas industry in Iran. This case study is expected to fill a gap in the literature in the specific context of a strategic situation and the critical environment in Iran.

The purpose of this study is to examine how the internationalization process in small firms impacts their resource base renewal. The relationships between organizational learning, dynamic capabilities, operational capabilities and resources are empirically examined to determine the impact of internationalization on changes to the firm’s resource base. The empirical analysis follows a multiple case study research methodology and is based on in depth case studies of four internationalized professional service firms in Ontario. Cases include born-global and born-again global firms, exemplifying both location-based and knowledge-based services. The study finds evidence supporting the relationships between internationalization, organizational learning and planned change via dynamic capabilities, as well as internationalization, organizational learning and ad hoc problem solving. Findings also suggest that the firms’ repetitive use of ad hoc problem solving when faced with similar situations leads to the creation of dynamic capabilities. This research adds to the existing body of literature on services, international entrepreneurship and strategy by responding to a call for empirical examination of organizational learning within the RBV and DC constructs. Furthermore, it also applies a novel theoretical framework with which to examine the impact of small firm internationalization and their strategic renewal. By doing so, this thesis extends the RBV and DC perspectives to small service firms. Findings demonstrate a need to further continue this research path to gain greater understanding of the change processes that occur during the evolution of the firm’s resource base, as pertains to small knowledge-intensive service firms.

The concept of dynamic capability (DC) is receiving significant attention from scholars in strategy and organisation research. However, most of the research is conceptual in nature. In this thesis, the process of how DCs are created in two firms is examined using the grounded theory methodology (GTM) with the aim of developing a substantive theory of DC creation. Data were collected using theoretical sampling, and unstructured and semi-structured interviews. These data were then analysed using the constant comparison method to identify and explain the process through which DCs are created. The findings from the study reveal that DCs are created through continuous internal activities such as in-house innovation, human resource activities (HRAs), and external activities with partners through collaboration and acquisitions. Firms learn from these activities, which lead to changes in the static organisational capabilities and the development of higher order capabilities, the DCs. From this study, a framework has been developed for considering and managing the process of creating DCs at a strategic level. The framework explains the reasons why these firms develop and renew their DCs, identifies the key resources required, and examines the activities through which DCs are developed and renewed. The framework is both iterative and simultaneous. Implications for academics and practitioners are discussed, and limitations and directions for future research are outlined.