Universal Forest Products 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 Universal Forest Products to do better resource allocation and build a defensible value and supply chain.

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What is a Valuable Resource for Universal Forest Products? Defining Valuable in VRIO

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

What are Rare Resources for Universal Forest Products? Defining Rare in VRIO

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

What is a Inimitable (Difficult to Immitate) Resource for Universal Forest Products? Defining Inimitable in VRIO

A valuable and rare resource can provide a competitive advantage to Universal Forest Products 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. Universal Forest Products 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 Universal Forest Products

What is a Organization for Universal Forest Products? Defining Organization in VRIO

Even if the Universal Forest Products 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 Universal Forest Products 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
Alignment of Activities with Universal Forest Products 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
Talent to Manage Regulatory and Legal Obligations	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Yes	Not critical factor
Product Portfolio and Synergy among Various Product Lines of Universal Forest Products	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
Brand awareness of Universal Forest Products products and services	Yes, the brand awareness of Universal Forest Products products are high	Yes, Universal Forest Products has one of the leading brand in the industry	No	Universal Forest Products has utilized its leading brand position in various segments	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Sales Force and Channel Management of Universal Forest Products	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Still there is lot of potential to utilize the excellent sales force	Can provide Universal Forest Products sustainable competitive advantage. Potential is certainly there.
Supply Chain Network Flexibility of Universal Forest Products	Yes	Yes	Near competitors also have flexible supply chain and share some of the suppliers	Fully utilized by Universal Forest Products organizational structure and capabilities	Keeps the business running
Track Record of Leadership Team at Universal Forest Products	Yes	Yes	Can't be imitated by competitors	Yes	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Pricing Strategies of Universal Forest Products	Yes, Universal Forest Products has sound pricing strategies	No	Pricing strategies are regularly imitated in the industry	Yes, firm has a pricing analytics engine	It can only provide Universal Forest Products with a Temporary Competitive Advantage
Successful Implementation of Digital Strategy at Universal Forest Products	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
Track Record of Project Execution	Yes, especially in an industry where there are frequent cost overun	Yes, especially in the segment that Universal Forest Products operates in	No, none of the competitors so far has able to imitate this expertise	Yes, Universal Forest Products is successful at it	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Access to Cheap Capital for Universal Forest Products	Yes, as a leading player in the industry and current macro economic conditions, Universal Forest Products has access to cheap capital	No	Can be imitated by the competitors of Universal Forest Products	Not been totally exploited	Not significant in creating competitive advantage
Opportunities in the E-Commerce Space for Universal Forest Products - using Present IT Capabilities	Yes, the e-commerce space is rapidly growing and Universal Forest Products 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
Universal Forest Products 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 Universal Forest Products	Universal Forest Products is leveraging the customer loyalty to good effect	Provide Universal Forest Products medium term competitive advantage
Customer Community of Universal Forest Products	Yes, as customers are co-creating products	Yes, the Universal Forest Products has able to build a special relationship with its customers	It is very difficult for Universal Forest Products competitors to imitate the culture and community dedication	Going by the data, there is still a lot of upside in building on Universal Forest Products customers community ecosystem	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage

Universal Forest Products SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, Weighted SWOT Case Study Solution & Analysis

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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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