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

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What is a Valuable Resource for General Cable? Defining Valuable in VRIO

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

What are Rare Resources for General Cable? Defining Rare in VRIO

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

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

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

What is a Organization for General Cable? Defining Organization in VRIO

Even if the General Cable 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 General Cable 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
Opportunities in the E-Commerce Space for General Cable - using Present IT Capabilities	Yes, the e-commerce space is rapidly growing and General Cable 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
Alignment of Activities with General Cable 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
Pricing Strategies of General Cable	Yes, General Cable has sound pricing strategies	No	Pricing strategies are regularly imitated in the industry	Yes, firm has a pricing analytics engine	It can only provide General Cable with a Temporary Competitive Advantage
Global and Local Presence of General Cable	Yes, as it diversify the revenue streams and isolate company's balance sheet from economic cycles	Yes	Can be imitated by competitors of General Cable but at a relatively high cost	Yes, it is one of the most diversified companies in its industry	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Access to Cheap Capital for General Cable	Yes, as a leading player in the industry and current macro economic conditions, General Cable has access to cheap capital	No	Can be imitated by the competitors of General Cable	Not been totally exploited	Not significant in creating competitive advantage
Brand Positioning of General Cable 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
Sales Force and Channel Management of General Cable	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Still there is lot of potential to utilize the excellent sales force	Can provide General Cable sustainable competitive advantage. Potential is certainly there.
Opportunities in the Adjacent Industries that General Cable 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
Supply Chain Network Flexibility of General Cable	Yes	Yes	Near competitors also have flexible supply chain and share some of the suppliers	Fully utilized by General Cable organizational structure and capabilities	Keeps the business running
Vision of the Leadership for Next Set of Challenges	Yes	No	Can't be imitated by competitors of General Cable	Not based on information provided in the case	Can Lead to Strong Competitive Advantage
Position among Retailers and Wholesalers – General Cable retail strategy	Yes, General Cable has strong relationship with retailers and wholesalers	Yes, General Cable has dedicated channel partners	Difficult to imitate though not impossible	Yes, over the years company has used it successfully	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Successful Implementation of Digital Strategy at General Cable	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 General Cable	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
Talent to Manage Regulatory and Legal Obligations	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Yes	Not critical factor

General Cable 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