Purpose <p>Small firms frequently suffer higher rates of failure arising from size-related liabilities. However, there is a significant gap on how firms combine the resources they possess to strengthen their competitiveness. Therefore, the study investigates whether resource bundling has any significant influence on competitiveness among small manufacturing firms in Nigeria.</p> Design/ methodology/approach <p>Drawing upon resource management framework, the study employed cross-sectional research design to collect data from 207 owner-managers across Lagos State, Kano State, and Abia State in Nigeria. The data were analysed using AMOS SEM version 23 software.</p> Findings <p>The results of the multiple regression analysis revealed that stabilising, enriching, and pioneering resource bundling and their combined effect had positive significant influence on competitiveness of small manufacturing firms in Nigeria. These findings provide empirical support for the theoretical frameworks underlying resource management, and contribute to the growing body of evidence on the importance of resource bundling in enhancing firm competitiveness.</p> Originality/Value <p>The study’s main contribution is the explicit examination of resource bundling in small manufacturing firms’ competitiveness. There is a significant knowledge gap regarding how small manufacturing firms manage and utilise their resources to address market demands. To the best of the researcher’s knowledge, this is the first study to use primary data to empirically demonstrate that stabilizing, enriching, and pioneering resources are strong predictors of small manufacturing firms’ competitiveness.</p> Practical implications <p>The study also provides significant implications for practice. How firms allocate resources is, perhaps more important than the ownership of said resources, as such the following inference, namely how exactly firms bundle their resources, both contemporaneously and intertemporally, possesses implications for firms’ competitiveness.</p>