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Multi-level issues (Klein, Dansereau, & Hall (1994). Academy of Management Review, 195–229) are critical to both strategic management research and practice, and yet, we have few approaches for dealing with them both systemically and systematically. In this chapter, I take a resource-based approach to exploring multi-level linkages, suggesting that such an approach has wide applicability. A resource-based view (RBV) of competitive advantage and value creation illustrates the multi-level nature of these concepts and shows how the RBV is itself linked to the external market environment. The RBV also provides a way to link a variety of types of levels of analysis. These include different organizational levels of analysis, content and process linkages, and linkages across time.

Research on strategic industry groups provides numerous examples of the tensions between theory and methodology in strategic management research. After an initial explosion of largely non-theoretical, methods-driven studies led to mounting criticisms, researchers recognized the need for more theoretical guidance concerning the nature of groups and their potential influences on firm performance. This refocusing on theory has produced different research streams, each with its own methodological concerns. This chapter reviews these developments with the objective of understanding how researchers balance theory and methods in current research.

The purpose of this paper is to present the main assumptions of the resource-based theory according to which the success of an organization is mainly dependent on the ability of capitalizing its inner capacity. The author draws attention to the measurement of intangible resources of libraries and their evaluation, crucial from the point of view of library effectiveness and the quality of its services. The author also emphasizes the specific character of intangible resources, including lack of their mobility, specialization and difficulty in their replacing, which may result in hindering management processes.

The second part of the paper illustrates the author’s research in the field of intangible resources in Polish libraries, including human resources (knowledge, competencies, employee skills), competencies of library management staff, business strategies, organizational culture, communication skills and relations between employees, the ability to communicate and relations with the library community, in particular with its users, library reputation, brand, library innovativeness and the ability to adapt to changes and expectations of the community, the ability of the library to cooperate with other institutions, including networks and consortia, the ability to use and support new technological solutions, the ability to introduce new technologies in the library, the ability to create and acquire intellectual property (copyright, licensing, trademark protection, etc.).

Research has shown that libraries pay growing attention to the relation with the community. Concentrating on library resources means concentrating on readers and providing services that would satisfy readers. However, it seems that the knowledge of library management in the field of managing of intangible resources is still insufficient.

The paper presents the first study of this kind conducted in Poland.

Jay Barney is a Professor of Management and holds the Bank One Chair for Excellence in Corporate Strategy at the Max M. Fisher College of Business, The Ohio State University. He received his undergraduate degree from Brigham Young University, and his master's and doctorate from Yale University. He taught at the Anderson Graduate School of Management at UCLA and Texas A&M University before joining the faculty at Ohio State in 1994, where Professor Barney teaches organizational strategy and policy to MBA and Ph.D. students.

1. INNOVATION IN ORGANIZATIONS: A MULTI-LEVEL PERSPECTIVE ON CREATIVITY

Welcome to the second volume of Research Methodology in Strategy and Management. This book series’ mission is to provide a forum for critique, commentary, and discussion about key research methodology issues in the strategic management field. Strategic management relies on an array of complex methods drawn from various allied disciplines to examine how managers attempt to lead their firms toward success. The field is undergoing a rapid transformation in methodological rigor, and researchers face many new challenges about how to conduct their research and in understanding the implications that are associated with their research choices. For example, as the field progresses, what new methodologies might be best suited for testing the developments in thinking and theorizing? Many long-standing issues remain unresolved as well. What methodological challenges persist as we consider those matters? This book series seeks to bridge the gap between what researchers know and what they need to know about methodology. We seek to provide wisdom, insight, and guidance from some of the best methodologists inside and outside the strategic management field.