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

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

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

What are Rare Resources for Cabelas? Defining Rare in VRIO

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

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

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

What is a Organization for Cabelas? Defining Organization in VRIO

Even if the Cabelas 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 Cabelas 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
Pricing Strategies of Cabelas	Yes, Cabelas has sound pricing strategies	No	Pricing strategies are regularly imitated in the industry	Yes, firm has a pricing analytics engine	It can only provide Cabelas with a Temporary Competitive Advantage
Opportunities for Brand Extensions for Cabelas 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
Track Record of Leadership Team at Cabelas	Yes	Yes	Can't be imitated by competitors	Yes	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Alignment of Activities with Cabelas 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
Vision of the Leadership for Next Set of Challenges	Yes	No	Can't be imitated by competitors of Cabelas	Not based on information provided in the case	Can Lead to Strong Competitive Advantage
Track Record of Project Execution	Yes, especially in an industry where there are frequent cost overun	Yes, especially in the segment that Cabelas operates in	No, none of the competitors so far has able to imitate this expertise	Yes, Cabelas is successful at it	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Cabelas 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 Cabelas	Cabelas is leveraging the customer loyalty to good effect	Provide Cabelas medium term competitive advantage
Access to Critical Raw Material for Successful Execution	Yes	Yes, as other competitors have to come to terms with Cabelas dominant market position	Can be imitated by competitors	Yes	Providing Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Opportunities in the Adjacent Industries that Cabelas 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
Distribution and Logistics Costs Competitiveness	Yes, as it helps Cabelas in delivering lower costs	No	Can be imitated by competitors of Cabelas but it is difficult	Yes	Medium to Long Term Competitive Advantage
Opportunities in the E-Commerce Space for Cabelas - using Present IT Capabilities	Yes, the e-commerce space is rapidly growing and Cabelas 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
Position among Retailers and Wholesalers – Cabelas retail strategy	Yes, Cabelas has strong relationship with retailers and wholesalers	Yes, Cabelas has dedicated channel partners	Difficult to imitate though not impossible	Yes, over the years company has used it successfully	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Access to Cheap Capital for Cabelas	Yes, as a leading player in the industry and current macro economic conditions, Cabelas has access to cheap capital	No	Can be imitated by the competitors of Cabelas	Not been totally exploited	Not significant in creating competitive advantage
Marketing Expertise within Cabelas	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 Cabelas are often matched by competitors	Yes, Cabelas is leveraging both its inhouse marketing department and external expertise	Temporary Competitive Advantage

Cabelas 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