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Marks & Spencer 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 Marks & Spencer to do better resource allocation and build a defensible value and supply chain.
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What is a Valuable Resource for Marks & Spencer? Defining Valuable in VRIO
A resource or capability is considered valuable for Marks & Spencer , if it allows the
Marks & Spencer to exploit opportunities or negate threats
emerging out of both the micro business environment and the macro environment. If a resource does not allow Marks & Spencer to minimize threats or exploit opportunities, than it doesn't contribute signficantly to building a sustainable competitive advantage for Marks & Spencer.
What are Rare Resources for Marks & Spencer? Defining Rare in VRIO
In an industry that Marks & Spencer operates in, valuable resources are held by number of competitors. So valuable resources themselves don’t provide a sustainable competitive advantage. Marks & Spencer require rare resources to compete in the industry. If Marks & Spencer don’t have rare resources that are required to succeed in the industry then Marks & Spencer won’t be able to compete successfully in the marketplace. Secondly holding rare resources can provide Marks & Spencer competitive advantage against players that don’t have those rare resources. HBR Case Study Solution
What is a Inimitable (Difficult to Immitate) Resource for Marks & Spencer? Defining Inimitable in VRIO
A valuable and rare resource can provide a competitive advantage to Marks & Spencer 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. Marks & Spencer 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 Marks & Spencer
What is a Organization for Marks & Spencer? Defining Organization in VRIO
Even if the Marks & Spencer 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 Marks & Spencer 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 |
Marks & Spencer 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 Marks & Spencer | Marks & Spencer is leveraging the customer loyalty to good effect | Provide Marks & Spencer medium term competitive advantage |
Vision of the Leadership for Next Set of Challenges | Yes | No | Can't be imitated by competitors of Marks & Spencer | Not based on information provided in the case | Can Lead to Strong Competitive Advantage |
Supply Chain Network Flexibility of Marks & Spencer | Yes | Yes | Near competitors also have flexible supply chain and share some of the suppliers | Fully utilized by Marks & Spencer organizational structure and capabilities | Keeps the business running |
Product Portfolio and Synergy among Various Product Lines of Marks & Spencer | Yes, it is valuable in the industry given the various segmentations & consumer preferences. | Most of the competitors are trying to enter the lucrative segments | Can be imitated by the competitors | The firm has used it to good effect, details can be found in case exhibit | Provide short term competitive advantage but requires constant innovation to sustain |
Intellectual Property Rights, Copyrights, and Trademarks | Yes, they are extremely valuable for Marks & Spencer to thwart competition | Yes, IPR and other rights are rare and competition of Marks & Spencer 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 |
Sales Force and Channel Management of Marks & Spencer | Yes | No | Can be imitated by competitors | Still there is lot of potential to utilize the excellent sales force | Can provide Marks & Spencer sustainable competitive advantage. Potential is certainly there. |
Track Record of Leadership Team at Marks & Spencer | Yes | Yes | Can't be imitated by competitors | Yes | Providing Strong Competitive Advantage |
Ability to Attract Talent in Various Local & Global Markets | Yes, Marks & Spencer 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 Marks & Spencer | To a large extent yes | Providing Strong Competitive Advantage |
Customer Community of Marks & Spencer | Yes, as customers are co-creating products | Yes, the Marks & Spencer has able to build a special relationship with its customers | It is very difficult for Marks & Spencer competitors to imitate the culture and community dedication | Going by the data, there is still a lot of upside in building on Marks & Spencer customers community ecosystem | Providing Strong Competitive Advantage |
Alignment of Activities with Marks & Spencer 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 |
Access to Critical Raw Material for Successful Execution | Yes | Yes, as other competitors have to come to terms with Marks & Spencer dominant market position | Can be imitated by competitors | Yes | Providing Sustainable Competitive Advantage |
Opportunities in the Adjacent Industries that Marks & Spencer 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 |
Successful Implementation of Digital Strategy at Marks & Spencer | 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 |
Marks & Spencer 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
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