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

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

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

What are Rare Resources for Xerox? Defining Rare in VRIO

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

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

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

What is a Organization for Xerox? Defining Organization in VRIO

Even if the Xerox 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 Xerox 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
Customer Community of Xerox	Yes, as customers are co-creating products	Yes, the Xerox has able to build a special relationship with its customers	It is very difficult for Xerox competitors to imitate the culture and community dedication	Going by the data, there is still a lot of upside in building on Xerox customers community ecosystem	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Vision of the Leadership for Next Set of Challenges	Yes	No	Can't be imitated by competitors of Xerox	Not based on information provided in the case	Can Lead to Strong Competitive Advantage
Intellectual Property Rights, Copyrights, and Trademarks	Yes, they are extremely valuable for Xerox to thwart competition	Yes, IPR and other rights are rare and competition of Xerox 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
Position among Retailers and Wholesalers – Xerox retail strategy	Yes, Xerox has strong relationship with retailers and wholesalers	Yes, Xerox has dedicated channel partners	Difficult to imitate though not impossible	Yes, over the years company has used it successfully	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Brand awareness of Xerox products and services	Yes, the brand awareness of Xerox products are high	Yes, Xerox has one of the leading brand in the industry	No	Xerox has utilized its leading brand position in various segments	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Product Portfolio and Synergy among Various Product Lines of Xerox	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
Access to Cheap Capital for Xerox	Yes, as a leading player in the industry and current macro economic conditions, Xerox has access to cheap capital	No	Can be imitated by the competitors of Xerox	Not been totally exploited	Not significant in creating competitive advantage
Xerox 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 Xerox	Xerox is leveraging the customer loyalty to good effect	Provide Xerox medium term competitive advantage
Alignment of Activities with Xerox 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
Opportunities in the Adjacent Industries that Xerox 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
Financial Resources of Xerox	Yes	No	Financial instruments and market liquidity are available to all the nearest competitors	Xerox has reasonably sound financial position	Xerox has relatively sustainable Competitive Advantage
Track Record of Leadership Team at Xerox	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 Xerox operates in	No, none of the competitors so far has able to imitate this expertise	Yes, Xerox is successful at it	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage

Xerox 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