VRIO Analysis of Bennett Strang Farris

Posted by Zachary Edwards on Mar-22-2018

The VRIO Analysis of Bennett Strang Farris will look at each of its internal resources one by one to assess whether these provide sustained competitive advantage. The Bennett Strang Farris 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 Bennett Strang Farris VRIO Analysis shows that the financial resources of Bennett Strang Farris are highly valuable as these help in investing into external opportunities that arise. These also help Bennett Strang Farris in combating external threats.
• According to the VRIO Analysis of Bennett Strang Farris, 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 Bennett Strang Farris VRIO Analysis shows that Bennett Strang Farris'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 Bennett Strang Farris's products.
• According to the VRIO Analysis of Bennett Strang Farris, its patents are a valuable resource as these allow the firm to sell its products without competitive interference. This results in greater revenue for Bennett Strang Farris. These patents also provide Bennett Strang Farris with licensing revenue when it licenses these patents out to other manufacturers.
• The Bennett Strang Farris VRIO Analysis shows that Bennett Strang Farris’s distribution network is a valuable resource. This helps it in reaching out to more and more customers. This ensures greater revenues for Bennett Strang Farris. It also ensures that promotion activities translate into sales as the products are easily available.
• According to the VRIO Analysis of Bennett Strang Farris, 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 Bennett Strang Farris VRIO Analysis shows that the research and development at Bennett Strang Farris 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 Bennett Strang Farris. It is recommended that the research and development teams are improved, and costs are cut for these.

Rare

• The financial resources of Bennett Strang Farris are found to be rare according to the VRIO Analysis of Bennett Strang Farris. 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 Bennett Strang Farris 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 Bennett Strang Farris and inhibit competitive advantage. This means that the local food products result in competitive parity for Bennett Strang Farris. As this resource is valuable, Bennett Strang Farris can still make use of this resource.
• The employees of Bennett Strang Farris are a rare resource as identified by the VRIO Analysis of Bennett Strang Farris. 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 Bennett Strang Farris are a rare resource as identified by the Bennett Strang Farris VRIO Analysis. These patents are not easily available and are not possessed by competitors. This allows Bennett Strang Farris to use them without interference from the competition.
• The distribution network of Bennett Strang Farris is a rare resource as identified by the VRIO Analysis of Bennett Strang Farris. This is because competitors would require a lot of investment and time to come up with a better distribution network than that of Bennett Strang Farris. These are also possessed by very few firms in the industry.

Imitable

• The financial resources of Bennett Strang Farris are costly to imitate as identified by the Bennett Strang Farris 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 Bennett Strang Farris. 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 Bennett Strang Farris provide it with a temporary competitive advantage that competitors can too acquire in the long run.
• The employees of Bennett Strang Farris are also not costly to imitate as identified by the Bennett Strang Farris VRIO Analysis. This is because other firms can also train their employees to improve their skills. These companies can also hire employees from Bennett Strang Farris by offering better compensation packages, work environment, benefits, growth opportunities etc. This makes the employees of Bennett Strang Farris a resource that provides a temporary competitive advantage. Competition can acquire these in the future.
• The patents of Bennett Strang Farris are very difficult to imitate as identified by the VRIO Analysis of Bennett Strang Farris. 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 Bennett Strang Farris is also very costly to imitate by competition as identified by the Bennett Strang Farris VRIO Analysis. This has been developed over the years gradually by Bennett Strang Farris. Competitors would have to invest a significant amount if they are to imitate a similar distribution system.

Organisation

• The financial resources of Bennett Strang Farris are organised to capture value as identified by the VRIO Analysis of Bennett Strang Farris. 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 Bennett Strang Farris.
• The Patents of Bennett Strang Farris are not well organised as identified by the Bennett Strang Farris 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 Bennett Strang Farris starts selling patented products before the patents expire.
• The distribution network of Bennett Strang Farris is organised as identified by the VRIO Analysis of Bennett Strang Farris. Bennett Strang Farris 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 Bennett Strang Farris.

From the VRIO Analysis of Bennett Strang Farris, 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 Bennett Strang Farris is a competitive disadvantage. Research and Development is also a competitive disadvantage.