Walt Disney VRIO / VRIN Analysis | Assignment Help

What is VRIO / VRIN Analysis ?

VRIO stands for – Value of the resource, Rareness of the resource, Imitation Risk, and Organizational Competence.

VRIO is a resource focused strategic analysis tool. To build a sustainable competitive advantage the resources that –casename— needs to be valuable, rare, and difficult to imitate. Secondly the –casename— needs to possess capabilities, organizational structure, and culture to optimize the available resources usage. VRIO analysis can help organizations such as Walt Disney to do better resource allocation and build a defensible value and supply chain.

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What is a Valuable Resource for Walt Disney? Defining Valuable in VRIO

A resource or capability is considered valuable for Walt Disney , if it allows the Walt Disney to exploit opportunities or negate threats emerging out of both the micro business environment and the macro environment. If a resource does not allow Walt Disney to minimize threats or exploit opportunities, than it doesn't contribute signficantly to building a sustainable competitive advantage for Walt Disney.

What are Rare Resources for Walt Disney? Defining Rare in VRIO

In an industry that Walt Disney operates in, valuable resources are held by number of competitors. So valuable resources themselves don’t provide a sustainable competitive advantage. Walt Disney require rare resources to compete in the industry. If Walt Disney don’t have rare resources that are required to succeed in the industry then Walt Disney won’t be able to compete successfully in the marketplace. Secondly holding rare resources can provide Walt Disney competitive advantage against players that don’t have those rare resources. HBR Case Study Solution

What is a Inimitable (Difficult to Immitate) Resource for Walt Disney? Defining Inimitable in VRIO

A valuable and rare resource can provide a competitive advantage to Walt Disney for certain period of time as all the competitors are going to try to imitate or replicate that resource. A sustained competitive advantage emerges, if the resource is difficult to imitate by the competitors. Walt Disney can create inmitability by innovating on the product side, reducing pain points on service delivery, and having an effective post sales servicing strategy. Check out the SWOT analysis of Walt Disney

What is a Organization for Walt Disney? Defining Organization in VRIO

Even if the Walt Disney has all the valuable resources that are both rare and difficult to imitate, it won’t automatically result into a sustainable competitive advantage. The key to build the sustainable competitive advantage is to have organizational capabilities, expertise, and structure to exploit the resources. If Walt Disney is not organized based on its strengths then it won’t able to exploit all the resources that it possesses.

Resources	Value	Rare	Imitation	Organization	Competitive Advantage
Supply Chain Network Flexibility of Walt Disney	Yes	Yes	Near competitors also have flexible supply chain and share some of the suppliers	Fully utilized by Walt Disney organizational structure and capabilities	Keeps the business running
Alignment of Activities with Walt Disney Corporate Strategy	Yes	No	Each of the firm has its own strategy	Yes, company has organizational skills to extract the maximum out of it.	Still lots of potential to build on it
Intellectual Property Rights, Copyrights, and Trademarks	Yes, they are extremely valuable for Walt Disney to thwart competition	Yes, IPR and other rights are rare and competition of Walt Disney will find it extremely difficult to copy	Risk of imitation is low but given the margins in the industry disruption chances are high	So far the firm has not utilized the full extent of its IPR & other properties	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Opportunities in the Adjacent Industries that Walt Disney can exploit & New Resources Required to Enter those Industries	Can be valuable as they will create new revenue streams	No	Can be imitated by competitors	All the capabilities of the organization are not fully utilized yet	Has potential
Brand Positioning of Walt Disney in Comparison to the Competitors	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors but it will require big marketing budget	Yes, the firm has positioned its brands based on consumer behavior	Temporary Competitive Advantage
Distribution and Logistics Costs Competitiveness	Yes, as it helps Walt Disney in delivering lower costs	No	Can be imitated by competitors of Walt Disney but it is difficult	Yes	Medium to Long Term Competitive Advantage
Ability to Attract Talent in Various Local & Global Markets	Yes, Walt Disney strategy is built on successful innovation and localization of products	Yes, as talent is critical to firm's growth	Difficult to imitate for the current competitors of Walt Disney	To a large extent yes	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Customer Community of Walt Disney	Yes, as customers are co-creating products	Yes, the Walt Disney has able to build a special relationship with its customers	It is very difficult for Walt Disney competitors to imitate the culture and community dedication	Going by the data, there is still a lot of upside in building on Walt Disney customers community ecosystem	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Marketing Expertise within Walt Disney	Yes, firms are competing based on differentiation in the industry	No, as most of the competitors also have good marketing departments and expertise	Pricing strategies of Walt Disney are often matched by competitors	Yes, Walt Disney is leveraging both its inhouse marketing department and external expertise	Temporary Competitive Advantage
Access to Cheap Capital for Walt Disney	Yes, as a leading player in the industry and current macro economic conditions, Walt Disney has access to cheap capital	No	Can be imitated by the competitors of Walt Disney	Not been totally exploited	Not significant in creating competitive advantage
Sales Force and Channel Management of Walt Disney	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Still there is lot of potential to utilize the excellent sales force	Can provide Walt Disney sustainable competitive advantage. Potential is certainly there.
Opportunities for Brand Extensions for Walt Disney products	Yes, new niches are emerging in the market	No, as most of the competitors are also targeting those niches	Yes can be imitated by the competitors	Brand extensions will require higher marketing budget	Temporary Competitive Advantage
Track Record of Project Execution	Yes, especially in an industry where there are frequent cost overun	Yes, especially in the segment that Walt Disney operates in	No, none of the competitors so far has able to imitate this expertise	Yes, Walt Disney is successful at it	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Track Record of Leadership Team at Walt Disney	Yes	Yes	Can't be imitated by competitors	Yes	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage

Walt Disney SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, Weighted SWOT Case Study Solution & Analysis

Books and References

Ahir Gopaldas and Anton Siebert (2022 July August) "What You’re Getting Wrong About Customer Journeys", Harvard Business Review , 92
Linda A. Hill, Emily Tedards, and Taran Swan (2021) "Drive Innovation with Better Decision-Making", Harvard Business Review 86
Dyer, J. H., & Hatch, N. (2004). Using Supplier Networks to Learn Faster. Sloan Management Review, 45(3), 57–63
Barney, J. B. (1991). Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage. Journal of Management, 17, 99–120
Dyer, J. H., Kale, P., & Singh, H. (2004, July–August). When to ally and when to acquire. Harvard Business Review, 109–115