Rethinking Sustained Competitive Advantage from Human Capital
- 1 July 2012
- journal article
- research article
- Published by Academy of Management in Academy of Management Review
- Vol. 37 (3), 376-395
- https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2010.0276
Abstract
The strategy literature often emphasizes firm-specific human capital as a source of competitive advantage based on the assumption that it constrains employee mobility. We first identify three boundary conditions that limit the applicability of this logic. We then offer a more comprehensive framework of human capital–based advantage that explores both demand- and supply-side mobility constraints. The critical insight is that these mobility constraints have more explanatory power than the firm specificity of human capital.This publication has 70 references indexed in Scilit:
- The Structure and Function of Human Capital Emergence: a Multilevel Examination of the Attraction-Selection-Attrition ModelThe Academy of Management Journal, 2006
- How do interdependencies among human-capital deployment, development, and diversification strategies affect firms' financial performance?Strategic Management Journal, 2005
- Human capital and learning as a source of sustainable competitive advantageStrategic Management Journal, 2004
- Human resources and the resource based view of the firmJournal of Management, 2001
- Strategic assets and organizational rentStrategic Management Journal, 1993
- Why Do Employers Only Reward Extreme Performance? Examining the Relationships Among Performance, Pay, and TurnoverAdministrative Science Quarterly, 1992
- Firm-specific Capital and TurnoverJournal of Political Economy, 1979
- Job Market SignalingThe Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1973
- The Strength of Weak TiesAmerican Journal of Sociology, 1973
- The Market for "Lemons": Quality Uncertainty and the Market MechanismThe Quarterly Journal of Economics, 1970