J.M. Smucker 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 J.M. Smucker to do better resource allocation and build a defensible value and supply chain.

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What is a Valuable Resource for J.M. Smucker? Defining Valuable in VRIO

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

What are Rare Resources for J.M. Smucker? Defining Rare in VRIO

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

What is a Inimitable (Difficult to Immitate) Resource for J.M. Smucker? Defining Inimitable in VRIO

A valuable and rare resource can provide a competitive advantage to J.M. Smucker 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. J.M. Smucker 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 J.M. Smucker

What is a Organization for J.M. Smucker? Defining Organization in VRIO

Even if the J.M. Smucker 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 J.M. Smucker 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
J.M. Smucker 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 J.M. Smucker	J.M. Smucker is leveraging the customer loyalty to good effect	Provide J.M. Smucker medium term competitive advantage
Successful Implementation of Digital Strategy at J.M. Smucker	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
Pricing Strategies of J.M. Smucker	Yes, J.M. Smucker has sound pricing strategies	No	Pricing strategies are regularly imitated in the industry	Yes, firm has a pricing analytics engine	It can only provide J.M. Smucker with a Temporary Competitive Advantage
Brand awareness of J.M. Smucker products and services	Yes, the brand awareness of J.M. Smucker products are high	Yes, J.M. Smucker has one of the leading brand in the industry	No	J.M. Smucker has utilized its leading brand position in various segments	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Track Record of Leadership Team at J.M. Smucker	Yes	Yes	Can't be imitated by competitors	Yes	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Brand Positioning of J.M. Smucker 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
Position among Retailers and Wholesalers – J.M. Smucker retail strategy	Yes, J.M. Smucker has strong relationship with retailers and wholesalers	Yes, J.M. Smucker has dedicated channel partners	Difficult to imitate though not impossible	Yes, over the years company has used it successfully	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Ability to Attract Talent in Various Local & Global Markets	Yes, J.M. Smucker 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 J.M. Smucker	To a large extent yes	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Distribution and Logistics Costs Competitiveness	Yes, as it helps J.M. Smucker in delivering lower costs	No	Can be imitated by competitors of J.M. Smucker but it is difficult	Yes	Medium to Long Term Competitive Advantage
Access to Cheap Capital for J.M. Smucker	Yes, as a leading player in the industry and current macro economic conditions, J.M. Smucker has access to cheap capital	No	Can be imitated by the competitors of J.M. Smucker	Not been totally exploited	Not significant in creating competitive advantage
Financial Resources of J.M. Smucker	Yes	No	Financial instruments and market liquidity are available to all the nearest competitors	J.M. Smucker has reasonably sound financial position	J.M. Smucker has relatively sustainable Competitive Advantage
Opportunities in the Adjacent Industries that J.M. Smucker 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
Intellectual Property Rights, Copyrights, and Trademarks	Yes, they are extremely valuable for J.M. Smucker to thwart competition	Yes, IPR and other rights are rare and competition of J.M. Smucker 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
Supply Chain Network Flexibility of J.M. Smucker	Yes	Yes	Near competitors also have flexible supply chain and share some of the suppliers	Fully utilized by J.M. Smucker organizational structure and capabilities	Keeps the business running

J.M. Smucker 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