Mechanics Analogical Analysis of Resource and Capability Relationship and Its Strategic Implication for Firm Capability Evolution

Noticing the difficulty in distinguishing capability from resource, the ambiguity of capability definition, the complexity of capability character and classification and so on issues in former researches, this paper makes a analogical analysis of capability and resource relationship compared with the force and object relationship in mechanics, so as to make a clear understanding of capability nature which is the basis for solving the above issues and for further capability research. Based on the mechanics analyses, this paper considers that capability (force) is a kind of process vector describing the action it done on resource (object), while human resource is the carrier of capability; knowledge resource is the raw material for creating capability; physical, technical, financial and so on other resources are the object which capability acts on. From this perspective, we analyses the mutual action between resource and capability and put forward a thought of strategy formulation aiming at capability evolution