Making the most of what you have: managerial ability as a source of resource value creation

The current study investigates a central premise of the resource-based view of the firm—that managers are a potential source of value creation for the firm. Using data from professional sports teams, we test theory regarding the effects of managerial ability, human resource stocks, and managers\u0027 actions on resource value creation. While results indicate managerial ability affects resource productivity, this effect is less pronounced with increases in the quality of firm resources. Further, we investigate the extent to which managerial actions that synchronize resource bundles account for the influence of managerial ability and resource context on a firm\u0027s performance advantage. These results contribute to our understanding of resource management and provide empirical evidence for the importance of managerial ability in the resource-based view. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley \u0026 Sons, Ltd.