How knowledge resource does matter in technology and cost advantages of a firm? Evidence from Malaysian logistics sector

The paper examines firms’ value of technology and knowledge resource for winning the benefits of technologies and sustained competitive advantage by examining the cost advantages and the propositioned mediating effect of knowledge resource in Malaysian logistics firms. Partial least square analysis is performed on the survey of 122 logistics firms. The results verify that knowledge resource has a positive impact on cost advantages and mediate the technology resource-cost advantages relationship. The finding presents that technologies are valuable resources for competitive advantage but easy to be purchased and substituted; hence they serve as a temporary competitive advantage. Instead, knowledge resource is the catalyst of cost advantages and provokes the technology resource to give a greater impact on cost advantages. This study reveals that knowledge resource is too costly and difficult to be imitated, hence becomes the ultimate sources of sustained competitive advantage. Launching information logistics technology is sensitive and expensive; hence, logistics firms need to exploit more on knowledge resources, consolidate them with the relevant technology resources in order to obtain operational efficiency and effectiveness. This paper unveils the theoretical and empirical evidence for insightful understanding concerning the technology-knowledge resource-performance outcome relationship.