Sustainability of Barangay Micro Business Enterprises (BMBEs) in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, Philippines: The Role of Resource-Based View

Abstract

This chapter looks into the sustainability factors of Barangay Micro Business Enterprises (BMBEs) in Laoag City from the Resource-Based View (RBV). Primary data were gathered through a survey questionnaire and interview. Secondary data were collected from the Department of Trade and Industry-Ilocos Norte Provincial Office and Laoag City Licensing Office. The findings show that the BMBEs in Laoag City, particularly the hotel accommodation and food service activities group, have valuable, rare, inimitable, and organized resources that sustain their operations. Having excellent local market knowledge, customer loyalty, established relationships with suppliers, owner’s motivation, daily recording of financial transactions, separating business money from personal money, and high social media presence with positive reviews are the resources that give them a sustainable competitive advantage. By maximizing these resources, they overcome the problems encountered in business operations, especially amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Valuable and rare but can be easily imitated resource such as differentiated product provides a temporary competitive advantage. Valuable resources that are not rare and can easily be imitated, such as offering affordable meals, financial resources, employees, sales on a cash basis, and a simple organizational structure, provide competitive parity. The BMBEs should strategize to make all valuable but not rare and easily imitated resources into valuable, rare, inimitable, and organized to become a sustainable competitive advantage.