The resource allocation process (RAP) articulated by Bower, Burgelman and their colleagues tries to understand how organizations decide to commit their resources, the forces that influence such decisions, and the strategic consequences of the resource commitments made. Since its inception 43 years ago, this stream of research has significantly evolved in terms of its conceptualization of RAP, providing evidence of a wide range of antecedent forces or factors that influence resource allocation decisions. However, these research efforts are fragmented and focus on one or two key factors. Moreover, there is not even a single scholarly review article, at least to group the related work under one head. Hence, there is a real need not just to group and synthesize these contributions, but to develop an integrated model that directs future research. This review addresses this task in five main parts. First, it maps the research on RAP to the field of strategic management. Second, it tracks down the evolution of the RAP research. Third, it synthesizes the results from various contributions focussing on the forces (and the underlying factors) that influence RAP. Fourth, it gives a brief methodology review. Fifth, it sets the agenda for future research.