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

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What is a Valuable Resource for Edwards Lifesciences? Defining Valuable in VRIO

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

What are Rare Resources for Edwards Lifesciences? Defining Rare in VRIO

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

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

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

What is a Organization for Edwards Lifesciences? Defining Organization in VRIO

Even if the Edwards Lifesciences 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 Edwards Lifesciences 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 for Brand Extensions for Edwards Lifesciences 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 Edwards Lifesciences	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 Edwards Lifesciences are often matched by competitors	Yes, Edwards Lifesciences is leveraging both its inhouse marketing department and external expertise	Temporary Competitive Advantage
Vision of the Leadership for Next Set of Challenges	Yes	No	Can't be imitated by competitors of Edwards Lifesciences	Not based on information provided in the case	Can Lead to Strong Competitive Advantage
Customer Community of Edwards Lifesciences	Yes, as customers are co-creating products	Yes, the Edwards Lifesciences has able to build a special relationship with its customers	It is very difficult for Edwards Lifesciences competitors to imitate the culture and community dedication	Going by the data, there is still a lot of upside in building on Edwards Lifesciences customers community ecosystem	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Access to Critical Raw Material for Successful Execution	Yes	Yes, as other competitors have to come to terms with Edwards Lifesciences dominant market position	Can be imitated by competitors	Yes	Providing Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Track Record of Leadership Team at Edwards Lifesciences	Yes	Yes	Can't be imitated by competitors	Yes	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Pricing Strategies of Edwards Lifesciences	Yes, Edwards Lifesciences has sound pricing strategies	No	Pricing strategies are regularly imitated in the industry	Yes, firm has a pricing analytics engine	It can only provide Edwards Lifesciences with a Temporary Competitive Advantage
Position among Retailers and Wholesalers – Edwards Lifesciences retail strategy	Yes, Edwards Lifesciences has strong relationship with retailers and wholesalers	Yes, Edwards Lifesciences has dedicated channel partners	Difficult to imitate though not impossible	Yes, over the years company has used it successfully	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Alignment of Activities with Edwards Lifesciences 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
Track Record of Project Execution	Yes, especially in an industry where there are frequent cost overun	Yes, especially in the segment that Edwards Lifesciences operates in	No, none of the competitors so far has able to imitate this expertise	Yes, Edwards Lifesciences is successful at it	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Intellectual Property Rights, Copyrights, and Trademarks	Yes, they are extremely valuable for Edwards Lifesciences to thwart competition	Yes, IPR and other rights are rare and competition of Edwards Lifesciences 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
Sales Force and Channel Management of Edwards Lifesciences	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Still there is lot of potential to utilize the excellent sales force	Can provide Edwards Lifesciences sustainable competitive advantage. Potential is certainly there.
Supply Chain Network Flexibility of Edwards Lifesciences	Yes	Yes	Near competitors also have flexible supply chain and share some of the suppliers	Fully utilized by Edwards Lifesciences organizational structure and capabilities	Keeps the business running
Distribution and Logistics Costs Competitiveness	Yes, as it helps Edwards Lifesciences in delivering lower costs	No	Can be imitated by competitors of Edwards Lifesciences but it is difficult	Yes	Medium to Long Term Competitive Advantage

Edwards Lifesciences 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