Penrose's book <italic>The Theory of the Growth of the Firm</italic> presents a growth theory that overwhelmingly relates to organic growth, with little explicit focus on acquisitive growth. This article addresses the gap in her growth theory by drawing on the historical case of Enodis, and insights from the...

This paper assesses the role of historical analysis in the development of the RBV, focusing on the work of Edith Penrose. Drawing on Penrose's own work, and her correspondence with her teacher and colleague Professor Fritz Machlup, the article argues that historical analysis was central to the...

Edith Penrose's theory of firm growth postulates that a firm's current growth rate will be influenced by the adjustment costs of, and changes to a firm's productive opportunity set arising from, previous growth. Although she explicitly considered the effect of previous organic growth on current...