Industrial and Organizational Psychology: Volume 5 - Issue 1

From Possible to Probable: The Psychology of Competitive Advantage
Robert E. Ployhart
Published online by Cambridge University Press:

07 January 2015, pp. 120-126
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This article responds to and extends the commentaries on the psychology of competitive advantage focal article. In general, the commentaries stressed that (a) the connection between industrial–organizational (I–O) psychology and strategy should go beyond resource-based theory and competitive advantage, (b) there are some existing examples of strategic I–O research, and (c) practitioners are already integrating I–O psychology with strategy. In this article, I use these commentaries as a means of generating actionable steps (e.g., research studies) to make the strategic adjacent possibility a reality. I conclude by arguing that understanding the psychology underlying firm competitiveness is the defining question of our time, and perhaps even the future of I–O psychology.

Industrial and Organizational Psychology