Mapping scholarly resources for strategy: a resource-based view of two management faculties

Abstract The marketization of higher education (HE) is often framed as a necessary response to competitive pressures, yet its underlying assumptions remain largely unexamined. This paper challenges the dominant view that universities must seek competitive advantage primarily through external market conditions. We argue for an alternative strategic orientation that prioritizes internal scholarly strengths as the foundation for sustainable institutional differentiation. Drawing on the resource-based view (RBV), we introduce the Scholarly Resource Score (SRS), a bibliometric method for identifying and measuring the value and rarity of scholarly resources. Using a dataset of over 1.1 million publication-author-keyword combinations, we apply SRS to University College London School of Management and Krakow University of Economics College of Management and Quality Sciences. Our analysis demonstrates that universities possess distinct scholarly resources that should guide institutional strategy. UCL excels in project scheduling and social networks, while KUE leads in enterprise systems and sustainable materials, highlighting the heterogeneity of academic expertise. By exposing the flawed assumptions behind market-driven HE reforms, we propose an alternative approach that prioritizes academic autonomy over reactive market alignment.