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Intuitive Surgical 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 Intuitive Surgical to do better resource allocation and build a defensible value and supply chain.
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What is a Valuable Resource for Intuitive Surgical? Defining Valuable in VRIO
A resource or capability is considered valuable for Intuitive Surgical , if it allows the
Intuitive Surgical to exploit opportunities or negate threats
emerging out of both the micro business environment and the macro environment. If a resource does not allow Intuitive Surgical to minimize threats or exploit opportunities, than it doesn't contribute signficantly to building a sustainable competitive advantage for Intuitive Surgical.
What are Rare Resources for Intuitive Surgical? Defining Rare in VRIO
In an industry that Intuitive Surgical operates in, valuable resources are held by number of competitors. So valuable resources themselves don’t provide a sustainable competitive advantage. Intuitive Surgical require rare resources to compete in the industry. If Intuitive Surgical don’t have rare resources that are required to succeed in the industry then Intuitive Surgical won’t be able to compete successfully in the marketplace. Secondly holding rare resources can provide Intuitive Surgical competitive advantage against players that don’t have those rare resources. HBR Case Study Solution
What is a Inimitable (Difficult to Immitate) Resource for Intuitive Surgical? Defining Inimitable in VRIO
A valuable and rare resource can provide a competitive advantage to Intuitive Surgical 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. Intuitive Surgical 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 Intuitive Surgical
What is a Organization for Intuitive Surgical? Defining Organization in VRIO
Even if the Intuitive Surgical 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 Intuitive Surgical 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Track Record of Project Execution | Yes, especially in an industry where there are frequent cost overun | Yes, especially in the segment that Intuitive Surgical operates in | No, none of the competitors so far has able to imitate this expertise | Yes, Intuitive Surgical is successful at it | Providing Strong Competitive Advantage |
Sales Force and Channel Management of Intuitive Surgical | Yes | No | Can be imitated by competitors | Still there is lot of potential to utilize the excellent sales force | Can provide Intuitive Surgical sustainable competitive advantage. Potential is certainly there. |
Opportunities in the Adjacent Industries that Intuitive Surgical 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 |
Talent to Manage Regulatory and Legal Obligations | Yes | No | Can be imitated by competitors | Yes | Not critical factor |
Alignment of Activities with Intuitive Surgical 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 Intuitive Surgical | Not based on information provided in the case | Can Lead to Strong Competitive Advantage |
Pricing Strategies of Intuitive Surgical | Yes, Intuitive Surgical has sound pricing strategies | No | Pricing strategies are regularly imitated in the industry | Yes, firm has a pricing analytics engine | It can only provide Intuitive Surgical with a Temporary Competitive Advantage |
Financial Resources of Intuitive Surgical | Yes | No | Financial instruments and market liquidity are available to all the nearest competitors | Intuitive Surgical has reasonably sound financial position | Intuitive Surgical has relatively sustainable Competitive Advantage |
Product Portfolio and Synergy among Various Product Lines of Intuitive Surgical | 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 |
Supply Chain Network Flexibility of Intuitive Surgical | Yes | Yes | Near competitors also have flexible supply chain and share some of the suppliers | Fully utilized by Intuitive Surgical organizational structure and capabilities | Keeps the business running |
Intellectual Property Rights, Copyrights, and Trademarks | Yes, they are extremely valuable for Intuitive Surgical to thwart competition | Yes, IPR and other rights are rare and competition of Intuitive Surgical 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 – Intuitive Surgical retail strategy | Yes, Intuitive Surgical has strong relationship with retailers and wholesalers | Yes, Intuitive Surgical has dedicated channel partners | Difficult to imitate though not impossible | Yes, over the years company has used it successfully | Sustainable Competitive Advantage |
Opportunities in the E-Commerce Space for Intuitive Surgical - using Present IT Capabilities | Yes, the e-commerce space is rapidly growing and Intuitive Surgical 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 |
Brand awareness of Intuitive Surgical products and services | Yes, the brand awareness of Intuitive Surgical products are high | Yes, Intuitive Surgical has one of the leading brand in the industry | No | Intuitive Surgical has utilized its leading brand position in various segments | Sustainable Competitive Advantage |
Intuitive Surgical 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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