Resource Idling and Capability Erosion
研究了企业为何在不利经济条件下仍坚持运营，发现资源闲置会导致能力侵蚀，预期能力损失使企业不愿闲置资源，尤其对能力优越和依赖人力资本的企业影响更大。
Why would some firms persist with continued operations when facing unfavorable economic conditions? Although prior studies have investigated the roles of uncertainty and sunk costs as sources of inertia, an unacknowledged type of sunk cost associated with temporary suspensions of operations is related to the erosion of existing capabilities. Building on the resource-based view and real options theory, we argue that resource idling contributes to capability erosion and that the anticipated capability loss motivates firms to refrain from idling their resources under demand uncertainty in the first place. The negative effects of uncertainty on resource idling are likely to be particularly strong for firms with superior capabilities and for those having a greater reliance on human capital. Using data on oil drilling contractors in Texas, the empirical evidence lends support to our theoretical arguments. Our insights suggest that resource idling shapes the development path of capabilities and risks jeopardizing firms’ competitive advantages. The seemingly operational decision of temporarily idling resources can therefore be quite strategic for a firm, and “hysteresis,” or inertia in continuing operations, can preserve firms’ capabilities.