Abstract:
Purpose – The agribusiness sector has long been acknowledged as a major source of livelihood to many
people in developing countries. Hence, determining the resources and capabilities influencing farm-level
competitive advantage are vital to better understand and formulate appropriate strategies to increase the
competitiveness ofminor export crops farms. This study aims to understand of the link between resourcescapabilities-
competitive advantage for appropriate measures to be recommended to enhance the competitive
position of the smallholding farms.
Design/methodology/approach – This study adopts the resource-based view in combination with
dynamic capabilities. The scope comprises owners of farms who possess experience in commercial cultivation
of minor export crops in Sri Lanka. A self-administrated structured questionnaire was used to collect data.
Findings – Based on the responses from 456 farm owners, results of the multiple regression analysis indicate
that variables representing resources such as human assets, physical assets, financial assets, institutional
capital, collective action and entrepreneurial identity; and dynamic capabilities such as organisational learning,
relationship building, quality management and marketing are significantly associated with competitive
advantage of the minor export crops farms. Reputation and farm process management capability are the only
two insignificant variables. Taken together, the resources and dynamic capabilities investigated explain 89.3
per cent of the variation in competitive advantage, inwhich 82 per cent is contributed by resources.
Originality/value – The findings provide useful insights not only in terms of understanding the link
between resources, dynamic capabilities and competitive advantage but also how resources and capabilities
can be channelled and leveraged to bring about competitive advantage to the minor export crops farms.
Theoretical and practical implications as well as future research directions are provided.
