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StanCorp Financial 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 StanCorp Financial Group to do better resource allocation and build a defensible value and supply chain.
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What is a Valuable Resource for StanCorp Financial Group? Defining Valuable in VRIO
A resource or capability is considered valuable for StanCorp Financial Group , if it allows the
StanCorp Financial 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 StanCorp Financial Group to minimize threats or exploit opportunities, than it doesn't contribute signficantly to building a sustainable competitive advantage for StanCorp Financial Group.
What are Rare Resources for StanCorp Financial Group? Defining Rare in VRIO
In an industry that StanCorp Financial Group operates in, valuable resources are held by number of competitors. So valuable resources themselves don’t provide a sustainable competitive advantage. StanCorp Financial Group require rare resources to compete in the industry. If StanCorp Financial Group don’t have rare resources that are required to succeed in the industry then StanCorp Financial Group won’t be able to compete successfully in the marketplace. Secondly holding rare resources can provide StanCorp Financial 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 StanCorp Financial Group? Defining Inimitable in VRIO
A valuable and rare resource can provide a competitive advantage to StanCorp Financial 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. StanCorp Financial 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 StanCorp Financial Group
What is a Organization for StanCorp Financial Group? Defining Organization in VRIO
Even if the StanCorp Financial 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 StanCorp Financial 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Opportunities in the Adjacent Industries that StanCorp Financial Group 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 |
Customer Community of StanCorp Financial Group | Yes, as customers are co-creating products | Yes, the StanCorp Financial Group has able to build a special relationship with its customers | It is very difficult for StanCorp Financial Group competitors to imitate the culture and community dedication | Going by the data, there is still a lot of upside in building on StanCorp Financial 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 StanCorp Financial Group | 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 StanCorp Financial Group operates in | No, none of the competitors so far has able to imitate this expertise | Yes, StanCorp Financial Group is successful at it | Providing Strong Competitive Advantage |
Intellectual Property Rights, Copyrights, and Trademarks | Yes, they are extremely valuable for StanCorp Financial Group to thwart competition | Yes, IPR and other rights are rare and competition of StanCorp Financial 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 |
Position among Retailers and Wholesalers – StanCorp Financial Group retail strategy | Yes, StanCorp Financial Group has strong relationship with retailers and wholesalers | Yes, StanCorp Financial 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 StanCorp Financial Group | Yes | Yes | Near competitors also have flexible supply chain and share some of the suppliers | Fully utilized by StanCorp Financial Group organizational structure and capabilities | Keeps the business running |
Distribution and Logistics Costs Competitiveness | Yes, as it helps StanCorp Financial Group in delivering lower costs | No | Can be imitated by competitors of StanCorp Financial Group but it is difficult | Yes | Medium to Long Term Competitive Advantage |
Marketing Expertise within StanCorp Financial 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 StanCorp Financial Group are often matched by competitors | Yes, StanCorp Financial Group is leveraging both its inhouse marketing department and external expertise | Temporary Competitive Advantage |
Opportunities in the E-Commerce Space for StanCorp Financial Group - using Present IT Capabilities | Yes, the e-commerce space is rapidly growing and StanCorp Financial Group 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 |
Global and Local Presence of StanCorp Financial Group | Yes, as it diversify the revenue streams and isolate company's balance sheet from economic cycles | Yes | Can be imitated by competitors of StanCorp Financial Group but at a relatively high cost | Yes, it is one of the most diversified companies in its industry | Providing Strong Competitive Advantage |
Successful Implementation of Digital Strategy at StanCorp Financial 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 StanCorp Financial 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 |
Pricing Strategies of StanCorp Financial Group | Yes, StanCorp Financial Group has sound pricing strategies | No | Pricing strategies are regularly imitated in the industry | Yes, firm has a pricing analytics engine | It can only provide StanCorp Financial Group with a Temporary Competitive Advantage |
StanCorp Financial 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
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