Hostname: page-component-5db58dd55d-htx7c Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-05-25T20:56:14.259Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Psychology of Competitive Advantage: An Adjacent Possibility

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  07 January 2015

Robert E. Ployhart
Robert E. Ployhart*
Affiliation:
University of South Carolina
*
E-mail: ployhart@moore.sc.edu, Address: Department of Management, Darla Moore School of Business, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SC 29212
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

This article argues that the field of industrial–organizational (I–O) psychology should expand its focus from studying individual and small-group behavior to also studying how psychology contributes to organizational strategy and sustained competitive advantage. The field of strategy has recently sought to understand the microfoundations of competitive advantage, and I–O psychology brings much expertise to inform the study of such microfoundations. However, most I–O research pays little attention to strategic issues. In this article, I provide an introduction to strategic management, focusing primarily on the resource-based determinants of competitive advantage. I then discuss the potential benefits of I–O science and practice tackling important strategic issues yet also note the challenges and likely evolutions that will be necessary in our theory and research. The field of personnel selection is used as an illustration, but other areas of I–O are also considered.

Information

Type
Focal Article
Information
Industrial and Organizational Psychology , Volume 5 , Issue 1 , March 2012 , pp. 62 - 81
Copyright
Copyright © Society for Industrial and Organizational Psychology 2012 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Footnotes

I thank Ray Kim for his invaluable assistance in tracking down references and helping with the reference section. I also thank Lynn McFarland for commenting on this manuscript, although I can't say that she agreed with all of what remains in the paper. Finally, I thank the four reviewers who helped sharpen the ideas in this manuscript.

References

Aguinis, H., Boyd, B. K., Pierce, C. A., & Short, J. C. (2011). Walking new avenues in management research methods and theories: Bridging micro and macro domains. Journal of Management, 37, 395–403.Google Scholar
Armstrong, C., & Shimizu, K. (2007). A review of empirical research on the resource-based view of the firm. Journal of Management, 33, 959–986. Google Scholar
Barney, J. B. (1986). Strategic factor markets: Expectations, luck, and business strategy. Management Science, 32, 1231–1241. Google Scholar
Barney, J. B. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17, 99–120. Google Scholar
Barney, J. B., & Wright, P. M. (1998). On becoming a strategic partner: The role of human resources in gaining competitive advantage. Human Resource Management, 37, 31–46. Google Scholar
Binning, J. F., & Barrett, G. V. (1989). Validity of personnel decisions: A conceptual analysis of the inferential and evidential bases. Journal of Applied Psychology, 74, 478–494. Google Scholar
Boudreau, J. W. (2010). Retooling HR. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press. Google Scholar
Boudreau, J. W., & Ramstad, P. M. (2007). Beyond HR. Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press. Google Scholar
Bowen, D. E., & Ostroff, C. (2004). Understanding HRM-firm performance linkages: The role of the “strength” of the HRM system. Academy of Management Review, 29, 203–221. Google Scholar
Brown, S. H. (1981). Validity generalization and situational moderation in the life insurance industry. Journal of Applied Psychology, 66, 664–670. Google Scholar
Campbell, J. P. (1990). Modeling the performance prediction problem in industrial and organizational psychology. In Dunnette, M. D. & Hough, L. M. (Eds.), Handbook of industrial and organizational psychology (2nd ed., Vol. 1, pp. 687–732). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press. Google Scholar
Cappelli, P., & Sherer, P. (1991). The missing role of context in OB: The need for a meso-level approach. In Staw, B. M. & Cummings, L. L. (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 13, pp. 55–110). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press. Google Scholar
Carmeli, A., & Schaubroeck, J. (2005). How leveraging human resource capital stock with its competitive distinctiveness enhances the performance of commercial and public organizations. Human Resource Management, 44, 391–412. Google Scholar
Cascio, W. F., & Aguinis, H. (2008a). Research in industrial and organizational psychology from 1963 to 2007: Changes, choices, and trends. Journal of Applied Psychology, 93, 1062–1081. Google Scholar
Cascio, W. F., & Aguinis, H. (2008b). Staffing 21st-century organizations. Academy of Management Annals, 2, 133–165. Google Scholar
Chambers, E. G., Foulon, M., Handfield-Jones, H., Hankin, S. M., & Michaels, E. G. (1998). The war for talent. McKinsey Quarterly, 3, 44–57.Google Scholar
Coff, R., & Kryscynski, D. (2011). Drilling for micro-foundations of human capital based competitive advantages. Journal of Management, 37, 1429–1443.Google Scholar
Crook, T. R., Todd, S. Y., Combs, J. G., Woehr, D. J., & Ketchen, D. J. Jr. (2011). Does human capital matter? A meta-analysis of the relationship between human capital and firm performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 96, 443–456. Google Scholar
Denrell, J., Fang, C., & Winter, S. G. (2003). The economics of strategic opportunity. Strategic Management Journal, 24, 977–990. Google Scholar
Dierickx, I., & Cool, K. (1989). Asset stock accumulation and sustainability of competitive advantage. Management Science, 35, 1504–1511. Google Scholar
Felin, T., & Hesterly, W. S. (2007). The knowledge-based view, nested heterogeneity, and new value creation: Philosophical considerations on the locus of knowledge. Academy of Management Review, 32, 195–218. Google Scholar
Gerhart, B. (2005). Human resources and business performance: Findings, unanswered questions, and an alternative approach. Management Revue, 16, 174–185. Google Scholar
Grant, R. M. (1996). Toward a knowledge-based theory of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 17, 109–122. Google Scholar
Guion, R. M. (2010). Employee selection: Musings about its past, present, and future. In Farr, J. L. & Tippins, N. T. (Eds.), Handbook of employee selection (pp. 943–957). New York, NY: Routledge. Google Scholar
Hansen, R. A. (2002). Executive commentary. Academy of Management Executive, 16, 103. Google Scholar
Hatch, N. E., & Dyer, J. H. (2004). Human capital and learning as a source of sustainable competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal, 25, 115–1178. Google Scholar
Helfat, C. E., & Peteraf, M. A. (2003). The dynamic resource-based view: Capability lifecycles. Strategic Management Journal, 24, 997–1010. Google Scholar
Highhouse, S. (2008). Stubborn reliance on intuition and subjectivity in employee selection. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 1, 333–342. Google Scholar
Hiller, N. J., DeChurch, L. A., Murase, T., & Doty, D. (2011). Searching for outcomes of leadership: A 25-year review. Journal of Management, 37, 1137–1177. Google Scholar
Hitt, M. A., Beamish, P. W., Jackson, S. E., & Mathieu, J. E. (2008). Building theoretical and empirical bridges across levels: Multilevel research in management. Academy of Management Journal, 50, 1385–1399.Google Scholar
Hitt, M. A., Bierman, L., Shimizu, K., & Kochhar, R. (2001). Direct and moderating effects of human capital on strategy and performance in professional service firms: A resource based perspective. Academy of Management Journal, 44, 13–28. Google Scholar
Hodgkinson, G. P., & Healey, M. P. (2011). Psychological foundations of dynamic capabilities: Reflexion and reflection in strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 32, 1500–1516.Google Scholar
Huselid, M. A. (1995). The impact of human resource management practices on turnover, productivity, and corporate financial performance. Academy of Management Journal, 38, 635–672. Google Scholar
Jackson, S. E., Hitt, M. A., & DeNisi, A. S. (2003). Managing knowledge for sustained competitive advantage. San Francisco, CA: Wiley. Google Scholar
Johns, G. (2006). The essential impact of context on organizational behavior. Academy of Management Review, 31, 386–408. Google Scholar
Kozlowski, S. W. J., & Ilgen, D. R. (2006). Enhancing the effectiveness of work groups and teams. Psychological Sciences in the Public Interest, 7, 77–124. Google Scholar
Kozlowski, S. W. J., & Klein, K. J. (2000). A multilevel approach to theory and research in organizations: Contextual, temporal, and emergent processes. In Klein, K. J. & Kozlowski, S. W. J. (Eds.), Multilevel theory, research, and methods in organizations: Foundations, extensions, and new directions (pp. 3–90). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Google Scholar
Le, H., Oh, I., Shaffer, J., & Schmidt, F. (2007). Implications of methodological advances for the practice of personnel selection: How practitioners benefit from meta-analysis. Academy of Management Perspectives, 21, 6–15. Google Scholar
Lepak, D. P., Liao, H., Chung, Y., & Harden, E. (2006). A conceptual review of HR management systems in HRM research. In Martocchio, J. (Ed.), Research in personnel and human resource management (Vol. 25, pp. 217–272). Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Lepak, D. P., Smith, K. G., & Taylor, M. S. (2007). Value creation and value capture: A multilevel perspective. Academy of Management Review, 32, 180–194. Google Scholar
Marks, M. A., Mathieu, J. E., & Zaccaro, S. J. (2001). A temporally based framework and taxonomy of team processes. Academy of Management Review, 26, 356–376. Google Scholar
Molloy, J., Chadwick, C., Ployhart, R. E., & Golden, S. (2011). Making “intangibles” tangible: A cross-disciplinary review and multilevel framework for future research. Journal of Management, 37, 1496–1518.Google Scholar
Molloy, J. C., Ployhart, R. E., & Wright, P. M. (2011). The myth of the micro-macro divide. Journal of Management, 37, 581–609. Google Scholar
Morgeson, F. P., Campion, M. A., Dipboye, R. L., Hollenbeck, J. R., Murphy, K., & Schmitt, N. (2007). Reconsidering the use of personality tests in personnel selection contexts. Personnel Psychology, 60, 683–729. Google Scholar
Morgeson, F. P., Dierdorff, E. C., & Hmurovic, J. L. (2010). Work design in situ: Understanding the role of occupational and organizational context. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 31, 351–360. Google Scholar
Newbert, S. (2007). Empirical research on the resource-based view of the firm: An assessment and suggestions for future research. Strategic Management Journal, 28, 121–146. Google Scholar
Penrose, E. (1959). The theory of the growth of the firm (3rd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press. Google Scholar
Peteraf, M. A. (1993). The cornerstones of competitive advantage: A resource-based view. Strategic Management Journal, 14, 179–191. Google Scholar
Ployhart, R. E. (2006). Staffing in the 21st century: New challenges and strategic opportunities. Journal of Management, 32, 868–897. Google Scholar
Ployhart, R. E., & Moliterno, T. P. (2011). Emergence of the human capital resource: A multilevel model. Academy of Management Review, 36, 127–150. Google Scholar
Ployhart, R. E., Van Iddekinge, C., & MacKenzie, W. (2011). Acquiring and developing human capital in service contexts: The interconnectedness of human capital resources. Academy of Management Journal, 54, 353–368.Google Scholar
Ployhart, R. E., Weekley, J. A., & Baughman, K. (2006). The structure and function of human capital emergence: A multilevel examination of the Attraction-Selection-Attrition model. Academy of Management Journal, 49, 661–677. Google Scholar
Ployhart, R. E., Weekley, J. A., & Ramsey, J. (2009). The consequences of human resource stocks and flows: A longitudinal examination of unit service orientation and unit effectiveness. Academy of Management Journal, 52, 996–1015. Google Scholar
Rousseau, D. M. (1985). Issues of level on organizational research: Multi-level and cross-level perspectives. In Cummings, L. L. & Staw, B. M. (Eds.), Research in organizational behavior (Vol. 7, pp. 1–37). Greenwich, CT: JAI. Google Scholar
Rumelt, R. P. (1984). Toward a strategic theory of the firm. In Lamb, R. (Eds.), Competitive strategic management. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Google Scholar
Rynes, S. L., Brown, K. G., & Colbert, A. E. (2002). Seven misconceptions about human resource practices: Research findings versus practitioner beliefs. Academy of Management Executive, 16, 92–103. Google Scholar
Schmidt, F. L., & Hunter, J. E. (1998). The validity and utility of selection methods in personnel psychology: Practical and theoretical implications of 85 years of research findings. Psychological Bulletin, 124, 262–274. Google Scholar
Schneider, B. (1987). The people make the place. Personnel Psychology, 40, 437–454. Google Scholar
Schneider, B., Ehrhart, M. G., Mayer, D. M., Saltz, J. L., & Niles-Jolly, K. (2005). Understanding organization-customer links in service settings. Academy of Management Journal, 48, 1017–1032. Google Scholar
Schneider, B., Hanges, P. J., Smith, D. B., & Salvaggio, A. N. (2003). Which comes first: Employee attitudes or organizational financial and market performance? Journal of Applied Psychology, 88, 836–851. Google Scholar
Schneider, B., Smith, D. B., & Sipe, W. P. (2000). Personnel selection psychology: Multilevel considerations. In Klein, K. J. & Kozlowski, S. W. J. (Eds.), Multilevel theory, research, and methods in organizations: Foundations, extensions, and new directions (pp. 91–120). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass. Google Scholar
Sirmon, D. G., Hitt, M. A., & Ireland, R. D. (2007). Managing firm resources in dynamic environments to create value: Looking inside the black box. Academy of Management Review, 32, 273–292. Google Scholar
Teece, D. J. (2007). Explicating dynamic capabilities: The nature and microfoundations of (sustainable) enterprise performance. Strategic Management Journal, 28, 1319–1350. Google Scholar
Teece, D. J., Pisano, G., & Shuen, A. (1997). Dynamic capabilities and strategic management. Strategic Management Journal, 18, 509–533. Google Scholar
Terpstra, D. E., & Rozell, E. J. (1993). The relationship of staffing practices to organizational level measures of performance. Personnel Psychology, 46, 27–48. Google Scholar
Van Iddekinge, C. H., Ferris, G. R., Perrewé, P. L., Perryman, A. A., Blass, F. R., & Heetderks, T. D. (2009). Effects of selection and training on unit-level performance over time: A latent growth modeling approach. Journal of Applied Psychology, 94, 829–843. Google Scholar
Wernerfelt, B. (1984). A resource-based view of the firm. Strategic Management Journal, 5, 171–180.Google Scholar
Wright, P. M., & Boswell, W. R. (2002). Desegregating HRM: A review and synthesis of micro and macro HR research. Journal of Management, 28, 247–276. Google Scholar
Wright, P. M., Dunford, B. D., & Snell, S. A. (2001). Human resources and the resource based view of the firm. Journal of Management, 27, 701–721. Google Scholar
Wright, P. M., & Haggerty, J. J. (2005). Missing variables in theories of strategic human resource management: Time, cause, and individuals. Management Revue, 16, 164–173. Google Scholar
Wright, P. M., & McMahan, G. C. (2011). Exploring human capital: Putting human back into strategic human resource management. Human Resource Management Journal, 21, 93–104. Google Scholar