STRATEGIC RESOURCES AND HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS: A CASE STUDY IN A UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN BRAZIL

Abstract

Competition among higher education institutions (HEIs), the evolution in learning methods and information technologies drive HEIs and lead them to increasingly intense challenges. In this context, the development of lucid and competent strategies promotes the differentiation, creating sustainable competitive advantages. The challenge of developing and implementing appropriate strategies involves the understanding of the potential of a HEI and how its capabilities and resources were formed and shaped. In this sense, this study presents a research based on a framework to identify and analyze over time changes in the strategic resources resulting from the development process of a HEI located in Serra Gaucha (southern Brazil), aiming to contribute to the understanding of the factors underlying the competitiveness in the light of the Resource Based View (RBV) theory. The analysis of the different models and contemporary theories, along with the results achieved in the empirical research show that, in the studied HEI, strategic resources have been changed and changed its characteristics during the development process. The changes were promoted by historical decisions and by new knowledge development. Therefore, for the HEI’s success, its strategic resources must be worked in two ways. First, by learning, supported by the absorptive capacity and second, by understanding the historical events, which can reinforce or withdraw the strategic nature of the resources.