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

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

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

What are Rare Resources for Exxon? Defining Rare in VRIO

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

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

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

What is a Organization for Exxon? Defining Organization in VRIO

Even if the Exxon 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 Exxon 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 Exxon in delivering lower costs	No	Can be imitated by competitors of Exxon but it is difficult	Yes	Medium to Long Term Competitive Advantage
Access to Critical Raw Material for Successful Execution	Yes	Yes, as other competitors have to come to terms with Exxon dominant market position	Can be imitated by competitors	Yes	Providing Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Global and Local Presence of Exxon	Yes, as it diversify the revenue streams and isolate company's balance sheet from economic cycles	Yes	Can be imitated by competitors of Exxon but at a relatively high cost	Yes, it is one of the most diversified companies in its industry	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Brand Positioning of Exxon 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
Brand awareness of Exxon products and services	Yes, the brand awareness of Exxon products are high	Yes, Exxon has one of the leading brand in the industry	No	Exxon has utilized its leading brand position in various segments	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Product Portfolio and Synergy among Various Product Lines of Exxon	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
Opportunities in the Adjacent Industries that Exxon 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
Talent to Manage Regulatory and Legal Obligations	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Yes	Not critical factor
Access to Cheap Capital for Exxon	Yes, as a leading player in the industry and current macro economic conditions, Exxon has access to cheap capital	No	Can be imitated by the competitors of Exxon	Not been totally exploited	Not significant in creating competitive advantage
Intellectual Property Rights, Copyrights, and Trademarks	Yes, they are extremely valuable for Exxon to thwart competition	Yes, IPR and other rights are rare and competition of Exxon 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
Customer Community of Exxon	Yes, as customers are co-creating products	Yes, the Exxon has able to build a special relationship with its customers	It is very difficult for Exxon competitors to imitate the culture and community dedication	Going by the data, there is still a lot of upside in building on Exxon customers community ecosystem	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Marketing Expertise within Exxon	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 Exxon are often matched by competitors	Yes, Exxon is leveraging both its inhouse marketing department and external expertise	Temporary Competitive Advantage
Ability to Attract Talent in Various Local & Global Markets	Yes, Exxon 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 Exxon	To a large extent yes	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Track Record of Leadership Team at Exxon	Yes	Yes	Can't be imitated by competitors	Yes	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage

Exxon 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