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

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What is a Valuable Resource for Priceline Group? Defining Valuable in VRIO

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

What are Rare Resources for Priceline Group? Defining Rare in VRIO

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

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

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

What is a Organization for Priceline Group? Defining Organization in VRIO

Even if the Priceline Group 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 Priceline Group 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
Pricing Strategies of Priceline Group	Yes, Priceline Group has sound pricing strategies	No	Pricing strategies are regularly imitated in the industry	Yes, firm has a pricing analytics engine	It can only provide Priceline Group with a Temporary Competitive Advantage
Ability to Attract Talent in Various Local & Global Markets	Yes, Priceline Group 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 Priceline Group	To a large extent yes	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Opportunities for Brand Extensions for Priceline Group 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 Priceline Group 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
Customer Community of Priceline Group	Yes, as customers are co-creating products	Yes, the Priceline Group has able to build a special relationship with its customers	It is very difficult for Priceline Group competitors to imitate the culture and community dedication	Going by the data, there is still a lot of upside in building on Priceline Group customers community ecosystem	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Distribution and Logistics Costs Competitiveness	Yes, as it helps Priceline Group in delivering lower costs	No	Can be imitated by competitors of Priceline Group but it is difficult	Yes	Medium to Long Term Competitive Advantage
Product Portfolio and Synergy among Various Product Lines of Priceline Group	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 Priceline Group	Yes, as a leading player in the industry and current macro economic conditions, Priceline Group has access to cheap capital	No	Can be imitated by the competitors of Priceline Group	Not been totally exploited	Not significant in creating competitive advantage
Opportunities in the E-Commerce Space for Priceline Group - using Present IT Capabilities	Yes, the e-commerce space is rapidly growing and Priceline Group can exploit the emerging opportunities	No, most of the competitors are investing in IT to enter the space	The AI and inhouse analytics can be difficult to imitate	It is just the start for the organization	In the long run it can provide sustainable competitive advantage
Talent to Manage Regulatory and Legal Obligations	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Yes	Not critical factor
Brand Positioning of Priceline Group 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
Access to Critical Raw Material for Successful Execution	Yes	Yes, as other competitors have to come to terms with Priceline Group dominant market position	Can be imitated by competitors	Yes	Providing Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Priceline Group 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 Priceline Group	Priceline Group is leveraging the customer loyalty to good effect	Provide Priceline Group medium term competitive advantage
Intellectual Property Rights, Copyrights, and Trademarks	Yes, they are extremely valuable for Priceline Group to thwart competition	Yes, IPR and other rights are rare and competition of Priceline Group 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

Priceline Group 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