Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores 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 Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores to do better resource allocation and build a defensible value and supply chain.

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What is a Valuable Resource for Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores? Defining Valuable in VRIO

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

What are Rare Resources for Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores? Defining Rare in VRIO

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

What is a Inimitable (Difficult to Immitate) Resource for Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores? Defining Inimitable in VRIO

A valuable and rare resource can provide a competitive advantage to Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores 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. Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores 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 Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores

What is a Organization for Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores? Defining Organization in VRIO

Even if the Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores 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 Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores 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
Brand Positioning of Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores 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
Access to Cheap Capital for Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores	Yes, as a leading player in the industry and current macro economic conditions, Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores has access to cheap capital	No	Can be imitated by the competitors of Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores	Not been totally exploited	Not significant in creating competitive advantage
Pricing Strategies of Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores	Yes, Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores has sound pricing strategies	No	Pricing strategies are regularly imitated in the industry	Yes, firm has a pricing analytics engine	It can only provide Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores with a Temporary Competitive Advantage
Opportunities for Brand Extensions for Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores 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
Talent to Manage Regulatory and Legal Obligations	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Yes	Not critical factor
Brand awareness of Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores products and services	Yes, the brand awareness of Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores products are high	Yes, Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores has one of the leading brand in the industry	No	Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores has utilized its leading brand position in various segments	Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Successful Implementation of Digital Strategy at Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores	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
Access to Critical Raw Material for Successful Execution	Yes	Yes, as other competitors have to come to terms with Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores dominant market position	Can be imitated by competitors	Yes	Providing Sustainable Competitive Advantage
Opportunities in the E-Commerce Space for Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores - using Present IT Capabilities	Yes, the e-commerce space is rapidly growing and Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores 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
Ability to Attract Talent in Various Local & Global Markets	Yes, Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores 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 Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores	To a large extent yes	Providing 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 Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores operates in	No, none of the competitors so far has able to imitate this expertise	Yes, Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores is successful at it	Providing Strong Competitive Advantage
Vision of the Leadership for Next Set of Challenges	Yes	No	Can't be imitated by competitors of Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores	Not based on information provided in the case	Can Lead to Strong Competitive Advantage
Supply Chain Network Flexibility of Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores	Yes	Yes	Near competitors also have flexible supply chain and share some of the suppliers	Fully utilized by Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores organizational structure and capabilities	Keeps the business running
Sales Force and Channel Management of Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores	Yes	No	Can be imitated by competitors	Still there is lot of potential to utilize the excellent sales force	Can provide Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores sustainable competitive advantage. Potential is certainly there.

Sears Hometown & Outlet Stores 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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