An examination of the dynamic process of defining resources - based on a study of small businesses run by visually impaired people in Vietnam

This article aims to examine existing studies on the definition of resources and responses to resource constraints, in order to delineate what still remains vague in existing theories regarding their application to the circumstances of extreme adversity and the context of developing economies. The author studied the process of visually impaired entrepreneurs in Vietnam to understand how they manage to deal with their disabilities in opening and operating massage treatment centres. The findings reveal that the setting unit in analysing resources is abstract, and exploring how to discover and utilise resources whose value has yet to be fully evaluated is difficult. The article suggests a dynamic definition process of applying a microfoundational perspective, in which entrepreneurs assess each element's contribution to the overall productivity of the to-be resource and improve the functionality of other elements to compensate for a constrained element, transforming a to-be resource into a valuable functional resource.