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DIALOGUE
On the Relational View
Dyer and Singh's article (1998) would seem an excellent attempt to cover an area of strategic research previously neglected: a focus on interorganizational relations in the study of the competitive factors of firms. The relational view is facing the challenge of trying to become a framework of reference that can embrace a large number of hitherto separate studies having several theoretical elements in common. However, feel the need for some discussion of the position this theory can adopt within the map of existing theoretical approaches and perspectives. I concentrate here on two concrete areas: (1) to what extent the relational view should be detached from other closely related viewpoints, such as the resource-based view, and (2) on where it would be possible to apply the proposed conceptual model-that is, whether it is possible to develop a theoretical framework without proposing a taxonomy of experiences where it might be applied.
Numerous studies from various approaches and backgrounds, such as industry capabilities (Foss & Eriksen, 1995) and industry networks (Ebers & Jarillo, 1998), have demonstrated, explicitly or implicitly, that the boundaries of the individual firm are insufficient to explain the factors behind the achievement of competitive advantage. These studies clearly show the need to change the order of the strategic process. Networks should not be seen as a strategic alliance resulting from a strategic decision of the firm but, rather, as a unit of analysis. The establishment of interorganizational relations is not simply a consequence of the strategy of the individual firm but is a strategy in itself.
This shifting of the unit of analysis from the individual firm to interorganizational relations does not, in my view, essentially contradict previous theoretical contributions. I believe it is possible to revise some of the principles behind the resource-based view-those referring to the unit of analysis-so that, rather than offering an alternative perspective, we can reformulate the existing one, thus taking advantage of the conceptual foundation offered by this approach. I am thinking in particular of models of characterization of resources, such as Barney's (1991), which are of use in determining the strategic nature of resources. This is the line followed by Molina and Camison (1998). It is my opinion that the change in...
