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

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

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

What are Rare Resources for Mattel? Defining Rare in VRIO

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

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

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

What is a Organization for Mattel? Defining Organization in VRIO

Even if the Mattel 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 Mattel 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
Position among Retailers and Wholesalers – Mattel retail strategy	Yes, Mattel has strong relationship with retailers and wholesalers	Yes, Mattel has dedicated channel partners	Difficult to imitate though not impossible	Yes, over the years company has used it successfully	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Intellectual Property Rights, Copyrights, and Trademarks	Yes, they are extremely valuable for Mattel to thwart competition	Yes, IPR and other rights are rare and competition of Mattel 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
Sales Force and Channel Management of Mattel	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Still there is lot of potential to utilize the excellent sales force	Can provide Mattel sustainable competitive advantage. Potential is certainly there.
Talent to Manage Regulatory and Legal Obligations	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Yes	Not critical factor
Track Record of Project Execution	Yes, especially in an industry where there are frequent cost overun	Yes, especially in the segment that Mattel operates in	No, none of the competitors so far has able to imitate this expertise	Yes, Mattel is successful at it	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Customer Community of Mattel	Yes, as customers are co-creating products	Yes, the Mattel has able to build a special relationship with its customers	It is very difficult for Mattel competitors to imitate the culture and community dedication	Going by the data, there is still a lot of upside in building on Mattel customers community ecosystem	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Pricing Strategies of Mattel	Yes, Mattel has sound pricing strategies	No	Pricing strategies are regularly imitated in the industry	Yes, firm has a pricing analytics engine	It can only provide Mattel with a Temporary Competitive Advantage
Distribution and Logistics Costs Competitiveness	Yes, as it helps Mattel in delivering lower costs	No	Can be imitated by competitors of Mattel but it is difficult	Yes	Medium to Long Term Competitive Advantage
Access to Cheap Capital for Mattel	Yes, as a leading player in the industry and current macro economic conditions, Mattel has access to cheap capital	No	Can be imitated by the competitors of Mattel	Not been totally exploited	Not significant in creating competitive advantage
Opportunities for Brand Extensions for Mattel 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
Product Portfolio and Synergy among Various Product Lines of Mattel	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 E-Commerce Space for Mattel - using Present IT Capabilities	Yes, the e-commerce space is rapidly growing and Mattel 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
Opportunities in the Adjacent Industries that Mattel 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
Financial Resources of Mattel	Yes	No	Financial instruments and market liquidity are available to all the nearest competitors	Mattel has reasonably sound financial position	Mattel has relatively sustainable Competitive Advantage

Mattel 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