Resource orchestration as a source of competitive advantage for cities

In accordance with Penrose’s (1959) logic, we understand cities in very generic terms as bundles human and non-human of resources, including routines and capabilities. This is compatible with a definition such as Glaeser’s: “Cities are the absence of physical space between people and companies. They are proximity, density, closeness.” (2011, p. 6). Discussing the “proximity, density, closeness” aspect in more depth (e.g., Knoben and Oerlemans, 2006) would go beyond the scope of this paper and is not necessary for the main argument we make—that the resource orchestration theory as one core theory of strategic management can be fruitfully applied also to the city context.

Note that the question under which circumstances an “organization” can be understood as a “corporate actor” is still an important topic within organization theory and deserves a more detailed discussion—which is beyond the scope of this paper—not only in the context of cities but also with regard to firms (King et al. 2010) or, more generally, social systems as such (see Luhmann 1996, pp. 198–201). Note also that the “capability to act” was a core element of Werner Kirsch’s contribution to the development of the (dynamic) organizational capability concept, long before the strategic management mainstream discovered this concept as a foundation for achieving competitive advantages (e.g., Kirsch 1976). Finally, we want to highlight that the notion of a “corporate actor” goes beyond the abovementioned idea of “multi-actor constellations” which are, e. g., also at the heart of the “relational view” in the strategy field (Dyer and Singh 1998).

This assumption may not hold for some parts of the world, excluding the provision of those basic services from the list of ubiquitous resource. For a recent (February 2018) example, see the water crisis in Cape Town, South Africa.

Many authors distinguish between knowledge creation and knowledge management (Nonaka and Teece 2001). The discussion of the differences in the city context is beyond the scope of this article.