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

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What is a Valuable Resource for Abbott Laboratories? Defining Valuable in VRIO

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

What are Rare Resources for Abbott Laboratories? Defining Rare in VRIO

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

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

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

What is a Organization for Abbott Laboratories? Defining Organization in VRIO

Even if the Abbott Laboratories 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 Abbott Laboratories 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 Abbott Laboratories in delivering lower costs	No	Can be imitated by competitors of Abbott Laboratories but it is difficult	Yes	Medium to Long Term Competitive Advantage
Brand awareness of Abbott Laboratories products and services	Yes, the brand awareness of Abbott Laboratories products are high	Yes, Abbott Laboratories has one of the leading brand in the industry	No	Abbott Laboratories has utilized its leading brand position in various segments	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Sales Force and Channel Management of Abbott Laboratories	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Still there is lot of potential to utilize the excellent sales force	Can provide Abbott Laboratories sustainable competitive advantage. Potential is certainly there.
Track Record of Project Execution	Yes, especially in an industry where there are frequent cost overun	Yes, especially in the segment that Abbott Laboratories operates in	No, none of the competitors so far has able to imitate this expertise	Yes, Abbott Laboratories is successful at it	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Position among Retailers and Wholesalers – Abbott Laboratories retail strategy	Yes, Abbott Laboratories has strong relationship with retailers and wholesalers	Yes, Abbott Laboratories has dedicated channel partners	Difficult to imitate though not impossible	Yes, over the years company has used it successfully	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Brand Positioning of Abbott Laboratories 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
Opportunities for Brand Extensions for Abbott Laboratories 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 Abbott Laboratories 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
Talent to Manage Regulatory and Legal Obligations	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Yes	Not critical factor
Intellectual Property Rights, Copyrights, and Trademarks	Yes, they are extremely valuable for Abbott Laboratories to thwart competition	Yes, IPR and other rights are rare and competition of Abbott Laboratories 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
Track Record of Leadership Team at Abbott Laboratories	Yes	Yes	Can't be imitated by competitors	Yes	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Abbott Laboratories 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 Abbott Laboratories	Abbott Laboratories is leveraging the customer loyalty to good effect	Provide Abbott Laboratories medium term competitive advantage
Pricing Strategies of Abbott Laboratories	Yes, Abbott Laboratories has sound pricing strategies	No	Pricing strategies are regularly imitated in the industry	Yes, firm has a pricing analytics engine	It can only provide Abbott Laboratories with a Temporary Competitive Advantage
Successful Implementation of Digital Strategy at Abbott Laboratories	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

Abbott Laboratories 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