Applying resource‐based theory

This paper describes research on the resources that underlie a manufacturing company’s service competence in its most established product group. Published methods for identifying and assessing resources are reviewed and, based on current theory, improvements are developed, tested and critiqued. A historical representation of the firm’s activities in its service provision over more than ten years is used to enable grounded identification of the resources involved. Sets of theory‐based questions are used to assess the value and sustainability of the resources identified. The plans and actions that appeared to relate to the intervention are then described over the following two years. Finally the methods are discussed from three perspectives – first, their appropriateness; second, the resource data they generated, and third, their apparent utility for managers.