VRIO Analysis of Bank of America Merrill Lynch

Posted by Zachary Edwards on Mar-22-2018

The VRIO Analysis of Bank of America Merrill Lynch will look at each of its internal resources one by one to assess whether these provide sustained competitive advantage. The Bank of America Merrill Lynch VRIO Analysis also mentions at each stage whether these resources could be improved to provide a greater competitive advantage. Lastly, the resources analysed are summarised as to whether they offer sustained competitive advantage, has an unused competitive advantage, temporary competitive advantage, competitive parity or competitive disadvantage.

Valuable

• The Bank of America Merrill Lynch VRIO Analysis shows that the financial resources of Bank of America Merrill Lynch are highly valuable as these help in investing into external opportunities that arise. These also help Bank of America Merrill Lynch in combating external threats.
• According to the VRIO Analysis of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, its local food products are a valuable resource as these are highly differentiated. This makes the perceived value for these by customers high. These are also valued more than the competition by customers due to the differentiation in these products.
• The Bank of America Merrill Lynch VRIO Analysis shows that Bank of America Merrill Lynch's employees are a valuable resource to the firm. A significant portion of the workforce is highly trained, and this leads to more productive output for the organisation. The employees are also loyal, and retention levels for the organisation are high. All of this translates into greater value for the end consumers of Bank of America Merrill Lynch's products.
• According to the VRIO Analysis of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, its patents are a valuable resource as these allow the firm to sell its products without competitive interference. This results in greater revenue for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. These patents also provide Bank of America Merrill Lynch with licensing revenue when it licenses these patents out to other manufacturers.
• The Bank of America Merrill Lynch VRIO Analysis shows that Bank of America Merrill Lynch’s distribution network is a valuable resource. This helps it in reaching out to more and more customers. This ensures greater revenues for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. It also ensures that promotion activities translate into sales as the products are easily available.
• According to the VRIO Analysis of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, its cost structure is not a valuable resource. This is because the methods of production lead to greater costs than that of competition, which affects the overall profits of the firm. Therefore, its cost structure is a competitive disadvantage that needs to be worked on.
• The Bank of America Merrill Lynch VRIO Analysis shows that the research and development at Bank of America Merrill Lynch is not a valuable resource. This is because research and development are costing more than the benefits it provides in the form of innovation. There have been very few innovative features and breakthrough products in the past few years. Therefore, research and development are a competitive disadvantage for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. It is recommended that the research and development teams are improved, and costs are cut for these.

Rare

• The financial resources of Bank of America Merrill Lynch are found to be rare according to the VRIO Analysis of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Strong financial resources are only possessed by a few companies in the industry.
• The local food products are found to be not rare as identified by Bank of America Merrill Lynch VRIO Analysis. These are easily provided in the market by other competitors. This means that competitors can use these resources in the same way as Bank of America Merrill Lynch and inhibit competitive advantage. This means that the local food products result in competitive parity for Bank of America Merrill Lynch. As this resource is valuable, Bank of America Merrill Lynch can still make use of this resource.
• The employees of Bank of America Merrill Lynch are a rare resource as identified by the VRIO Analysis of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. These employees are highly trained and skilled, which is not the case with employees in other firms. The better compensation and work environment ensure that these employees do not leave for other firms.
• The patents of Bank of America Merrill Lynch are a rare resource as identified by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch VRIO Analysis. These patents are not easily available and are not possessed by competitors. This allows Bank of America Merrill Lynch to use them without interference from the competition.
• The distribution network of Bank of America Merrill Lynch is a rare resource as identified by the VRIO Analysis of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. This is because competitors would require a lot of investment and time to come up with a better distribution network than that of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. These are also possessed by very few firms in the industry.

Imitable

• The financial resources of Bank of America Merrill Lynch are costly to imitate as identified by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch VRIO Analysis. These resources have been acquired by the company through prolonged profits over the years. New entrants and competitors would require similar profits for a long period of time to accumulate these amounts of financial resources.
• The local food products are not that costly to imitate as identified by the VRIO Analysis of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. These can be acquired by competitors as well if they invest a significant amount in research and development. These also do not require years long experience. Therefore, the local food products by Bank of America Merrill Lynch provide it with a temporary competitive advantage that competitors can too acquire in the long run.
• The employees of Bank of America Merrill Lynch are also not costly to imitate as identified by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch VRIO Analysis. This is because other firms can also train their employees to improve their skills. These companies can also hire employees from Bank of America Merrill Lynch by offering better compensation packages, work environment, benefits, growth opportunities etc. This makes the employees of Bank of America Merrill Lynch a resource that provides a temporary competitive advantage. Competition can acquire these in the future.
• The patents of Bank of America Merrill Lynch are very difficult to imitate as identified by the VRIO Analysis of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. This is because it is not legally allowed to imitate a patented product. Similar resources to be developed and getting a patent for them is also a costly process.
• The distribution network of Bank of America Merrill Lynch is also very costly to imitate by competition as identified by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch VRIO Analysis. This has been developed over the years gradually by Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Competitors would have to invest a significant amount if they are to imitate a similar distribution system.

Organisation

• The financial resources of Bank of America Merrill Lynch are organised to capture value as identified by the VRIO Analysis of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. These resources are used strategically to invest in the right places; making use of opportunities and combatting threats. Therefore, these resources prove to be a source of sustained competitive advantage for Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
• The Patents of Bank of America Merrill Lynch are not well organised as identified by the Bank of America Merrill Lynch VRIO Analysis. This means that the organisation is not using these patents to their full potential. An unused competitive advantage exists that can be changed into a sustainable competitive advantage if Bank of America Merrill Lynch starts selling patented products before the patents expire.
• The distribution network of Bank of America Merrill Lynch is organised as identified by the VRIO Analysis of Bank of America Merrill Lynch. Bank of America Merrill Lynch uses this network to reach out to its customers by ensuring that products are available on all of its outlets. Therefore, these resources prove to be a source of sustained competitive advantage for Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

From the VRIO Analysis of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, it was identified that the financial resources and distribution network provide a sustained competitive advantage. The patents are a source of unused competitive advantage. There exists a temporary competitive advantage for employees. There exists a competitive parity for local food products. Lastly, the cost structure of Bank of America Merrill Lynch is a competitive disadvantage. Research and Development is also a competitive disadvantage.