THE ROLES OF HUMAN RESOURCES, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, AND MARKETING KNOWLEDGE CAPABILITIES IN PERFORMANCE: AN EXTENSION OF THE RESOURCE-BASED THEORY PERSPECTIVE

For some time now, the resource-based theory (RBT) has been used as a perspective in understanding the relationship between resources (or capabilities) and performance; however, there is a dearth of empirical research shedding light on why some firms successfully use their capabilities while others do not. Thus, in this study the effects on performance of three resource variables were investigated: human resources (HR), information technology (IT), and marketing knowledge (MK). Results showed: the positive performance of IT, MK, and HR capabilities (beta =.275,.254, and.027, p <.01, respectively); and exploratory results with multiple hierarchical/interaction regressions suggested that two- and three-way interactions enhanced performance. These new findings suggest that these three capabilities are important business resources since they significantly improved performance.