Little elaboration of how firms build new capabilities has been a criticism of the resource-based view (RBV) of the firm research. A recent management concern has been that firms should assess their resources, yet few empirical studies have directly measured the relationships between capabilities, human capital and competitive advantage. Responding to this gap in the research to-date, this study empirically examined the relationships between the human capital, capabilities and competitive advantage of professional-service firms in three regions: China, Hong Kong and Taiwan.