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

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What is a Valuable Resource for Alaska Air Group? Defining Valuable in VRIO

A resource or capability is considered valuable for Alaska Air Group , if it allows the Alaska Air 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 Alaska Air Group to minimize threats or exploit opportunities, than it doesn't contribute signficantly to building a sustainable competitive advantage for Alaska Air Group.

What are Rare Resources for Alaska Air Group? Defining Rare in VRIO

In an industry that Alaska Air Group operates in, valuable resources are held by number of competitors. So valuable resources themselves don’t provide a sustainable competitive advantage. Alaska Air Group require rare resources to compete in the industry. If Alaska Air Group don’t have rare resources that are required to succeed in the industry then Alaska Air Group won’t be able to compete successfully in the marketplace. Secondly holding rare resources can provide Alaska Air 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 Alaska Air Group? Defining Inimitable in VRIO

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

What is a Organization for Alaska Air Group? Defining Organization in VRIO

Even if the Alaska Air 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 Alaska Air 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
Access to Critical Raw Material for Successful Execution	Yes	Yes, as other competitors have to come to terms with Alaska Air Group dominant market position	Can be imitated by competitors	Yes	Providing Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Successful Implementation of Digital Strategy at Alaska Air Group	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
Product Portfolio and Synergy among Various Product Lines of Alaska Air 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
Alignment of Activities with Alaska Air 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
Alaska Air 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 Alaska Air Group	Alaska Air Group is leveraging the customer loyalty to good effect	Provide Alaska Air Group medium term competitive advantage
Sales Force and Channel Management of Alaska Air Group	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Still there is lot of potential to utilize the excellent sales force	Can provide Alaska Air Group sustainable competitive advantage. Potential is certainly there.
Supply Chain Network Flexibility of Alaska Air Group	Yes	Yes	Near competitors also have flexible supply chain and share some of the suppliers	Fully utilized by Alaska Air Group organizational structure and capabilities	Keeps the business running
Access to Cheap Capital for Alaska Air Group	Yes, as a leading player in the industry and current macro economic conditions, Alaska Air Group has access to cheap capital	No	Can be imitated by the competitors of Alaska Air Group	Not been totally exploited	Not significant in creating competitive advantage
Vision of the Leadership for Next Set of Challenges	Yes	No	Can't be imitated by competitors of Alaska Air Group	Not based on information provided in the case	Can Lead to Strong Competitive Advantage
Global and Local Presence of Alaska Air Group	Yes, as it diversify the revenue streams and isolate company's balance sheet from economic cycles	Yes	Can be imitated by competitors of Alaska Air Group but at a relatively high cost	Yes, it is one of the most diversified companies in its industry	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Financial Resources of Alaska Air Group	Yes	No	Financial instruments and market liquidity are available to all the nearest competitors	Alaska Air Group has reasonably sound financial position	Alaska Air Group has relatively sustainable Competitive Advantage
Track Record of Project Execution	Yes, especially in an industry where there are frequent cost overun	Yes, especially in the segment that Alaska Air Group operates in	No, none of the competitors so far has able to imitate this expertise	Yes, Alaska Air Group is successful at it	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Position among Retailers and Wholesalers – Alaska Air Group retail strategy	Yes, Alaska Air Group has strong relationship with retailers and wholesalers	Yes, Alaska Air Group has dedicated channel partners	Difficult to imitate though not impossible	Yes, over the years company has used it successfully	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Opportunities for Brand Extensions for Alaska Air 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

Alaska Air 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