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

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

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

What are Rare Resources for Marriott? Defining Rare in VRIO

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

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

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

What is a Organization for Marriott? Defining Organization in VRIO

Even if the Marriott 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 Marriott 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
Talent to Manage Regulatory and Legal Obligations	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Yes	Not critical factor
Vision of the Leadership for Next Set of Challenges	Yes	No	Can't be imitated by competitors of Marriott	Not based on information provided in the case	Can Lead to Strong Competitive Advantage
Brand Positioning of Marriott 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 Marriott in delivering lower costs	No	Can be imitated by competitors of Marriott but it is difficult	Yes	Medium to Long Term Competitive Advantage
Track Record of Leadership Team at Marriott	Yes	Yes	Can't be imitated by competitors	Yes	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Successful Implementation of Digital Strategy at Marriott	Yes, without a comprehensive digital strategy it is extremely difficult to compete	No, as most of the firms are investing into digitalizing operations	Can be imitated by competitors	One of the leading player in the industry	Digital strategy has become critical in the industry but it can't provide sustainable competitive advantage to
Global and Local Presence of Marriott	Yes, as it diversify the revenue streams and isolate company's balance sheet from economic cycles	Yes	Can be imitated by competitors of Marriott but at a relatively high cost	Yes, it is one of the most diversified companies in its industry	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Customer Community of Marriott	Yes, as customers are co-creating products	Yes, the Marriott has able to build a special relationship with its customers	It is very difficult for Marriott competitors to imitate the culture and community dedication	Going by the data, there is still a lot of upside in building on Marriott customers community ecosystem	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Pricing Strategies of Marriott	Yes, Marriott has sound pricing strategies	No	Pricing strategies are regularly imitated in the industry	Yes, firm has a pricing analytics engine	It can only provide Marriott with a Temporary Competitive Advantage
Position among Retailers and Wholesalers – Marriott retail strategy	Yes, Marriott has strong relationship with retailers and wholesalers	Yes, Marriott has dedicated channel partners	Difficult to imitate though not impossible	Yes, over the years company has used it successfully	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Marketing Expertise within Marriott	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 Marriott are often matched by competitors	Yes, Marriott is leveraging both its inhouse marketing department and external expertise	Temporary Competitive Advantage
Opportunities for Brand Extensions for Marriott 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
Alignment of Activities with Marriott 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
Sales Force and Channel Management of Marriott	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Still there is lot of potential to utilize the excellent sales force	Can provide Marriott sustainable competitive advantage. Potential is certainly there.

Marriott 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