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

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What is a Valuable Resource for Discovery Communications? Defining Valuable in VRIO

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

What are Rare Resources for Discovery Communications? Defining Rare in VRIO

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

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

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

What is a Organization for Discovery Communications? Defining Organization in VRIO

Even if the Discovery Communications 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 Discovery Communications 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
Track Record of Project Execution	Yes, especially in an industry where there are frequent cost overun	Yes, especially in the segment that Discovery Communications operates in	No, none of the competitors so far has able to imitate this expertise	Yes, Discovery Communications is successful at it	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Position among Retailers and Wholesalers – Discovery Communications retail strategy	Yes, Discovery Communications has strong relationship with retailers and wholesalers	Yes, Discovery Communications has dedicated channel partners	Difficult to imitate though not impossible	Yes, over the years company has used it successfully	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Vision of the Leadership for Next Set of Challenges	Yes	No	Can't be imitated by competitors of Discovery Communications	Not based on information provided in the case	Can Lead to Strong Competitive Advantage
Pricing Strategies of Discovery Communications	Yes, Discovery Communications has sound pricing strategies	No	Pricing strategies are regularly imitated in the industry	Yes, firm has a pricing analytics engine	It can only provide Discovery Communications with a Temporary Competitive Advantage
Distribution and Logistics Costs Competitiveness	Yes, as it helps Discovery Communications in delivering lower costs	No	Can be imitated by competitors of Discovery Communications but it is difficult	Yes	Medium to Long Term Competitive Advantage
Brand awareness of Discovery Communications products and services	Yes, the brand awareness of Discovery Communications products are high	Yes, Discovery Communications has one of the leading brand in the industry	No	Discovery Communications has utilized its leading brand position in various segments	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Financial Resources of Discovery Communications	Yes	No	Financial instruments and market liquidity are available to all the nearest competitors	Discovery Communications has reasonably sound financial position	Discovery Communications has relatively sustainable Competitive Advantage
Sales Force and Channel Management of Discovery Communications	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Still there is lot of potential to utilize the excellent sales force	Can provide Discovery Communications sustainable competitive advantage. Potential is certainly there.
Ability to Attract Talent in Various Local & Global Markets	Yes, Discovery Communications 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 Discovery Communications	To a large extent yes	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Opportunities for Brand Extensions for Discovery Communications 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
Discovery Communications 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 Discovery Communications	Discovery Communications is leveraging the customer loyalty to good effect	Provide Discovery Communications medium term competitive advantage
Brand Positioning of Discovery Communications 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
Marketing Expertise within Discovery Communications	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 Discovery Communications are often matched by competitors	Yes, Discovery Communications is leveraging both its inhouse marketing department and external expertise	Temporary Competitive Advantage
Customer Community of Discovery Communications	Yes, as customers are co-creating products	Yes, the Discovery Communications has able to build a special relationship with its customers	It is very difficult for Discovery Communications competitors to imitate the culture and community dedication	Going by the data, there is still a lot of upside in building on Discovery Communications customers community ecosystem	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage

Discovery Communications SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, Weighted SWOT Case Study Solution & Analysis

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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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