Networks as Sources of Competitive Advantages

Resources are one of the most important elements for firms to obtain competitive advantages. When firms can not break through the restrictions of its own resources and capacities through market and hierarchy, they have to transcend their own boundaries to realize the resources sharing and advantages complements, which is an inevitable requirements for firms to grow. Traditional resources-based view, however, does not take into account the influences of social context on strategic behavior of firms. It is a pity in terms of theory. This paper begins with the critique of theories based on traditional resources and describes the social embeddedness of firms´ behavior. By introducing the concept of network resources, the paper tries to provide an expanding analytical framework.