Managing trade contacts in HotRest intermediate markets: a resource-based view analysis in EU countries

Trade contacts in the intermediate market, or intermediate trade contacts (ITC), are transactional capital resources. They are measured by business-to-business purchases or sales. The objective of this work is to evaluate the impact of ITC sales on the sustained competitive advantage of hotels and restaurants, 'HotRests', in EU countries. In a resource-based view framework, only valuable (above-normal) and rare (concentrated) ITC become relevant. Using EU input-output tables and applying the supply-driven model, the relationships between the multiplier and the valuable and rare resources are identified. The main finding is that 'HotRests' have the opportunity to manage their business-to-business relationships as a resource asset-flow to speed up innovation processes and defend their competitive advantage.