Uber 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 Uber to do better resource allocation and build a defensible value and supply chain.

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What is a Valuable Resource for Uber? Defining Valuable in VRIO

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

What are Rare Resources for Uber? Defining Rare in VRIO

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

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

A valuable and rare resource can provide a competitive advantage to Uber 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. Uber 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 Uber

What is a Organization for Uber? Defining Organization in VRIO

Even if the Uber 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 Uber 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
Distribution and Logistics Costs Competitiveness	Yes, as it helps Uber in delivering lower costs	No	Can be imitated by competitors of Uber but it is difficult	Yes	Medium to Long Term Competitive Advantage
Customer Community of Uber	Yes, as customers are co-creating products	Yes, the Uber has able to build a special relationship with its customers	It is very difficult for Uber competitors to imitate the culture and community dedication	Going by the data, there is still a lot of upside in building on Uber customers community ecosystem	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Track Record of Leadership Team at Uber	Yes	Yes	Can't be imitated by competitors	Yes	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Track Record of Project Execution	Yes, especially in an industry where there are frequent cost overun	Yes, especially in the segment that Uber operates in	No, none of the competitors so far has able to imitate this expertise	Yes, Uber is successful at it	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Marketing Expertise within Uber	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 Uber are often matched by competitors	Yes, Uber is leveraging both its inhouse marketing department and external expertise	Temporary Competitive Advantage
Brand awareness of Uber products and services	Yes, the brand awareness of Uber products are high	Yes, Uber has one of the leading brand in the industry	No	Uber has utilized its leading brand position in various segments	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Brand Positioning of Uber 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
Vision of the Leadership for Next Set of Challenges	Yes	No	Can't be imitated by competitors of Uber	Not based on information provided in the case	Can Lead to Strong Competitive Advantage
Talent to Manage Regulatory and Legal Obligations	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Yes	Not critical factor
Ability to Attract Talent in Various Local & Global Markets	Yes, Uber 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 Uber	To a large extent yes	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Pricing Strategies of Uber	Yes, Uber has sound pricing strategies	No	Pricing strategies are regularly imitated in the industry	Yes, firm has a pricing analytics engine	It can only provide Uber with a Temporary Competitive Advantage
Uber Customer Network and Loyalty	Yes, 23% of the customers contribute to more than 84% of the sales revenue	Yes, firm has invested to build a strong customer loyalty	Has been tried by competitors but none of them are as successful as Uber	Uber is leveraging the customer loyalty to good effect	Provide Uber medium term competitive advantage
Sales Force and Channel Management of Uber	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Still there is lot of potential to utilize the excellent sales force	Can provide Uber sustainable competitive advantage. Potential is certainly there.
Opportunities in the Adjacent Industries that Uber 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

Uber 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