Abstract
Barney formalises the resource-based view: a resource can generate sustained competitive advantage only when it is valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable, and without strategically equivalent substitutes.
Barney, J. (1991). Journal of Management, 17(1), 99–120. DOI
Key findings
- VRIN test — Value, rarity, inimitability, and non-substitutability are jointly required for a resource to last.
- Cost of copy — Advantage is the gap a rival must spend time, cash, or a different history to close — not a poster claim.
Limits
Cite-anchor shelf — closed access; expand after a full read. The 1991 article is a firm-strategy frame, not a license to treat every personal history as a moat.
Application
When you name an advantage you already run, write the cost-to-match before you invent a new self — then use that line once (Unfair advantage).