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Stifel Financial 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 Stifel Financial to do better resource allocation and build a defensible value and supply chain.
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What is a Valuable Resource for Stifel Financial? Defining Valuable in VRIO
A resource or capability is considered valuable for Stifel Financial , if it allows the
Stifel Financial to exploit opportunities or negate threats
emerging out of both the micro business environment and the macro environment. If a resource does not allow Stifel Financial to minimize threats or exploit opportunities, than it doesn't contribute signficantly to building a sustainable competitive advantage for Stifel Financial.
What are Rare Resources for Stifel Financial? Defining Rare in VRIO
In an industry that Stifel Financial operates in, valuable resources are held by number of competitors. So valuable resources themselves don’t provide a sustainable competitive advantage. Stifel Financial require rare resources to compete in the industry. If Stifel Financial don’t have rare resources that are required to succeed in the industry then Stifel Financial won’t be able to compete successfully in the marketplace. Secondly holding rare resources can provide Stifel Financial competitive advantage against players that don’t have those rare resources. HBR Case Study Solution
What is a Inimitable (Difficult to Immitate) Resource for Stifel Financial? Defining Inimitable in VRIO
A valuable and rare resource can provide a competitive advantage to Stifel Financial 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. Stifel Financial 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 Stifel Financial
What is a Organization for Stifel Financial? Defining Organization in VRIO
Even if the Stifel Financial 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 Stifel Financial 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 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Access to Cheap Capital for Stifel Financial | Yes, as a leading player in the industry and current macro economic conditions, Stifel Financial has access to cheap capital | No | Can be imitated by the competitors of Stifel Financial | Not been totally exploited | Not significant in creating competitive advantage |
Global and Local Presence of Stifel Financial | Yes, as it diversify the revenue streams and isolate company's balance sheet from economic cycles | Yes | Can be imitated by competitors of Stifel Financial but at a relatively high cost | Yes, it is one of the most diversified companies in its industry | Providing Strong Competitive Advantage |
Ability to Attract Talent in Various Local & Global Markets | Yes, Stifel Financial strategy is built on successful innovation and localization of products | Yes, as talent is critical to firm's growth | Difficult to imitate for the current competitors of Stifel Financial | To a large extent yes | Providing Strong Competitive Advantage |
Distribution and Logistics Costs Competitiveness | Yes, as it helps Stifel Financial in delivering lower costs | No | Can be imitated by competitors of Stifel Financial but it is difficult | Yes | Medium to Long Term Competitive Advantage |
Financial Resources of Stifel Financial | Yes | No | Financial instruments and market liquidity are available to all the nearest competitors | Stifel Financial has reasonably sound financial position | Stifel Financial has relatively sustainable Competitive Advantage |
Pricing Strategies of Stifel Financial | Yes, Stifel Financial has sound pricing strategies | No | Pricing strategies are regularly imitated in the industry | Yes, firm has a pricing analytics engine | It can only provide Stifel Financial with a Temporary Competitive Advantage |
Stifel Financial 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 Stifel Financial | Stifel Financial is leveraging the customer loyalty to good effect | Provide Stifel Financial medium term competitive advantage |
Brand awareness of Stifel Financial products and services | Yes, the brand awareness of Stifel Financial products are high | Yes, Stifel Financial has one of the leading brand in the industry | No | Stifel Financial has utilized its leading brand position in various segments | Sustainable Competitive Advantage |
Intellectual Property Rights, Copyrights, and Trademarks | Yes, they are extremely valuable for Stifel Financial to thwart competition | Yes, IPR and other rights are rare and competition of Stifel Financial 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 |
Brand Positioning of Stifel Financial 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 in the E-Commerce Space for Stifel Financial - using Present IT Capabilities | Yes, the e-commerce space is rapidly growing and Stifel Financial 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 |
Alignment of Activities with Stifel Financial 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 |
Customer Community of Stifel Financial | Yes, as customers are co-creating products | Yes, the Stifel Financial has able to build a special relationship with its customers | It is very difficult for Stifel Financial competitors to imitate the culture and community dedication | Going by the data, there is still a lot of upside in building on Stifel Financial 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 Stifel Financial | Not based on information provided in the case | Can Lead to Strong Competitive Advantage |
Stifel Financial 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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