Managing issues of responsibility across the entire product life cycle: Towards an Integrative model from the Resource-based View of the Firm and Stakeholder Theory Jairo Raúl Chacón Vargas - Carlos Eduardo Moreno Mantilla Abstract Purpose The aim of this research is to contribute to a deeper understanding on the firm’s resources and capabilities that are demanded for management of responsibility issues across product life cycle, drawing from Stakeholder Theory (ST) and the Resource-Based View (RBV) of the firm. Methods Insights and empirical evidence from two strands of the strategic management literature are integrated, which jointly address firm behavior in the face of social and environmental pressures. This literature centers on both ST and the RBV, with an instrumental orientation towards explaining competitive advantage and firm performance. Results and discussion Managing issues of responsibility within the product life cycle involves managing the expectations of stakeholders across the product life cycle. The understanding of the nature of the relationships between business and society has been the object of study of the stakeholder theory (ST). However, while ST guides the identification of relevant stakeholders and suggests a logic to interact with them, as well as explain how this may impact competitive advantage, it does not offer a framework to identify the organizational resources and capabilities required to align the interests of interested parties with the business strategy associated with responsibility issues across the product supply chain. Within the strategic J.R. Chacón-Vargas Associate Professor Industrial Engineering Programme Escuela Colombiana de Ingeniería “Julio Garavito” avk 45 No. 205-59, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia e-mail:jairo.chacon@escuelaing.edu.co C.E. Moreno-Mantilla Associate Professor Systems and Industrial Engineering Department Universidad Nacional de Colombia Avenida Carrera 30 No. 45-03 Edificio 453 (Aulas de Ingeniería), Oficina. 104, Bogotá, D.C., Colombia e-mail:cemorenoma@unal.edu.co management field, the Resource-Based View is emerging as an alternative to fill the gap left by ST. Evidence from the integration of the literature on ST and the RBV leads the authors to organize valuable, rare, inimitable, and non-substitutable resources demanded by a Responsible Supply Chain (RSC) strategy into six RSC-type resource domains. The proposed framework includes the capability cycle for RSC strategy proposed in the extant literature. In turn, the simultaneous investments in these resource domains are related to sustained competitive advantage through the mediating role of firm-specific organizationalcapabilities. Finally, focused investments in any of these resource domains, including corporate responsibility activities, are also associated to competitive advantage, following a strand in the literature, although sustained competitive advantage is predicted to be less likely in these cases. Conclusions and recommendations This study shows that ST and the RBV can be instrumental towards the structuring of a model that explains how firms may manage responsibility issues across product life cycle and competitive benefits associated to it. However, the findings are restricted to proposing a theoretical framework based on the extant literature and suggest related propositions, without contrasting these in order to validate the framework. Therefore, further empirical work needs to be carried out to test the relationships predicted by the framework. Key words: Responsible Supply Chain Management, Sustainable-Resource-Based View, Stakeholder Theory, Life Cycle Assessment, Corporate Social Responsibility. 1. Introduction Over the last 20 years, the world has witnessed dramatic events related with corruption, child labor, commercialization of toxic products, or violations of environmental regulations, which have involved well-known multinational firms and their associated brands. As a consequence of such events, these companies faced a negative impact