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

Order a UnitedHealth Group VRIO / VRIN Analysis now

What is a Valuable Resource for UnitedHealth Group? Defining Valuable in VRIO

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

What are Rare Resources for UnitedHealth Group? Defining Rare in VRIO

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

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

What is a Organization for UnitedHealth Group? Defining Organization in VRIO

Even if the UnitedHealth 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 UnitedHealth 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
Successful Implementation of Digital Strategy at UnitedHealth 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
UnitedHealth 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 UnitedHealth Group	UnitedHealth Group is leveraging the customer loyalty to good effect	Provide UnitedHealth Group medium term competitive advantage
Position among Retailers and Wholesalers – UnitedHealth Group retail strategy	Yes, UnitedHealth Group has strong relationship with retailers and wholesalers	Yes, UnitedHealth Group has dedicated channel partners	Difficult to imitate though not impossible	Yes, over the years company has used it successfully	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Supply Chain Network Flexibility of UnitedHealth Group	Yes	Yes	Near competitors also have flexible supply chain and share some of the suppliers	Fully utilized by UnitedHealth Group organizational structure and capabilities	Keeps the business running
Track Record of Leadership Team at UnitedHealth Group	Yes	Yes	Can't be imitated by competitors	Yes	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Access to Cheap Capital for UnitedHealth Group	Yes, as a leading player in the industry and current macro economic conditions, UnitedHealth Group has access to cheap capital	No	Can be imitated by the competitors of UnitedHealth Group	Not been totally exploited	Not significant in creating competitive advantage
Brand Positioning of UnitedHealth Group 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
Opportunities for Brand Extensions for UnitedHealth 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
Marketing Expertise within UnitedHealth Group	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 UnitedHealth Group are often matched by competitors	Yes, UnitedHealth Group is leveraging both its inhouse marketing department and external expertise	Temporary Competitive Advantage
Intellectual Property Rights, Copyrights, and Trademarks	Yes, they are extremely valuable for UnitedHealth Group to thwart competition	Yes, IPR and other rights are rare and competition of UnitedHealth Group 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
Customer Community of UnitedHealth Group	Yes, as customers are co-creating products	Yes, the UnitedHealth Group has able to build a special relationship with its customers	It is very difficult for UnitedHealth Group competitors to imitate the culture and community dedication	Going by the data, there is still a lot of upside in building on UnitedHealth Group customers community ecosystem	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Vision of the Leadership for Next Set of Challenges	Yes	No	Can't be imitated by competitors of UnitedHealth Group	Not based on information provided in the case	Can Lead to Strong Competitive Advantage
Distribution and Logistics Costs Competitiveness	Yes, as it helps UnitedHealth Group in delivering lower costs	No	Can be imitated by competitors of UnitedHealth Group but it is difficult	Yes	Medium to Long Term Competitive Advantage
Alignment of Activities with UnitedHealth 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

UnitedHealth 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