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Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/923549

Title
A resource-based view analysis of the assembly and packaging segment of the semiconductor industry
Author/Creator
Kuah, Teng Hock
Institution
University of Newcastle. Faculty of Business and Law, Newcastle Graduate School of Business
Description
Professional Doctorate - Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)
Description
The resource-based view (RBV) is a strategic management tool that examines how firms use valuable, rare, imperfectly imitable and non-substitutable (VRIN) resources and capabilities to achieve sustainable competitive advantage (SCA). The resource-based view argues that firms have different resources and capabilities and that this heterogeneity results in firms having unique capabilities to attain performance superiority over their rivals. While the RBV is intuitively appealing, it has not been applied widely. This research seeks to fill some of the research gaps identified in the RBV literature. This thesis contains an examination of the RBV of strategy in the advanced packaging segment of the semiconductor industry. This industry has been selected because it is a high technology industry that demands the intensive utilisation of resources and capabilities. The major objectives of this study are as follows: i) to examine the relative importance of various resources and capabilities with regards to them providing firms in this industry with SCA; ii) to examine whether various resources and capabilities can be grouped into categories that have been identified in the literature and to assess the relative importance of these categories of resources and capabilities; and iii) to examine the relationship between VRIN and SCA. A quantitative research methodology is adopted for this study. Data were collected via a self-administered questionnaire that is delivered electronically. This data-collection method was chosen because it is efficient in terms of time and cost, and allows the researcher to invite people from across the globe to participate in the study. The final sample comprises 202 senior engineers to top managers from firms in the advanced packaging segment of the semiconductor industry. Participants were from the following countries: China, France, Indonesia, Italy, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, The Netherlands, Thailand, and the USA. The major findings are as follows: i) the three most important resources and capabilities are talented management, R&D capabilities and momentum, and the ability to manage change. The three least important resources and capabilities are offshore production facilities, cheap land for manufacturing facilities, and friendly labor laws; ii) a principal components analysis revealed that twenty of the forty resources and capabilities that were studied can be grouped into the following five categories—Adaptive, Functional, Innovative, Positional, and Regulatory. The Functional category is the most important and the Positional category is the least important for generating SCA. Little difference was found between the Adaptive, Innovative, and Regulatory categories in terms of their perceived importance for generating SCA; and iii) a significant positive correlation was found between VRIN ratings and SCA ratings. The practical implications of the findings from this research are as follows: i) talented management is the most important resource/capability. As a result, senior management needs to focus on the firm’s human resource management strategy for grooming and retaining talented managers; ii) effective team is the second most important resource/capability. Senior managers therefore need to find ways to develop and implement strategic human resource policies that create organizational cultures in which teamwork is highly valued; and iii) R&D capabilities is the third most important resource/capability. Senior managers therefore need to develop short-term and long-term R&D strategies that can enhance the firm’s R&D capabilities and momentum. Furthermore, firms need to design strategic human resources policies that provide growth opportunities for R&D employees in order to retain them. The findings from this research have four implications for theory. Foremost, unique resources and capabilities factors such as talented management, effective teams, R&D capabilities and momentum provide a foundation for SCA. Second, Hall’s (1992) taxonomy should be modified for the advanced packaging segment of the semiconductor industry. Specifically, Hall’s (1992) Cultural category should be split into Innovative and Adaptive categories. Third, the Functional category consists of mainly intangible assets that relate to human capital and firms ought to attempt to make resources and capabilities in this category immobile. Last, resources and capabilities that are VRIN are likely to provide firms with SCA. Three chief recommendations for future research flows from the limitations of this study. First, coupling both resources and capabilities is too generic an approach. Thus, future research should separate resources and capabilities to measure their impact on SCA generation. Second, resources and capabilities are not categorized as intangible or tangible. Future work should separate these two types of assets to evaluate which is more influential for generating SCA. Third, only senior employees from firms in the assembly and packaging (AP) segment of the semiconductor industry were included in the sample. Future research should examine whether the findings of this study can be replicated with samples from different industries. Last, the study was confined to the association between VRIN and SCA. Future studies should attempt to establish the impact of VRIN resources and capabilities on a firm’s long-term performance.
Date
2011
Keyword(s)
resource based-view;  sustainable competitive advantages;  valuable, rare, inimitable, non-substitutable;  assembly and packaging;  resources and capabilities
Resource Type
thesis
Rights
Copyright 2011 Teng Hock Kuah
Identifier
http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/923549
Language
eng
 
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"A resource-based view analysis of the assembly and packaging segment of the semiconductor industry"
 
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