Resource-Based View and Inventory Efficiency in SMEs: Global Lessons for Pakistan
Keywords:
Resource-Based View, Inventory Management, SMEs, VRIN Framework, Predictive Analytics, Operational EfficiencyAbstract
This study explores how the Resource-Based View (RBV) framework can enhance inventory management efficiency in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), drawing on global evidence with specific lessons for Pakistan. While SMEs often face constraints like limited technology, expertise gaps, and market volatility, RBV emphasizes leveraging internal resources that are valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable (VRIN) to build sustainable competitive advantage. Using qualitative and quantitative analysis, this research demonstrates that RBV-aligned SMEs achieve superior inventory performance, including an average inventory turnover of 6.2 times per year compared to 4.1 for non-RBV firms, with 92% order accuracy and up to 20% annual cost reductions. Practices such as lean inventory management, predictive analytics, cloud systems, and just-in-time (JIT) strategies emerge as critical enablers of resource optimization. The paper also examines barriers to RBV adoption, including limited access to technology, financial constraints, and managerial challenges, especially in developing economies like Pakistan. It offers phased, actionable recommendations: identifying VRIN resources, integrating low-cost technologies, fostering supplier and institutional partnerships, and investing in managerial capacity-building. This study contributes to academic and policy discussions on SME competitiveness by showing that RBV principles, if systematically applied, can transform resource limitations into operational resilience and sustained cost efficiency.
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