VRIO Analysis of Jane McCrea

Posted by Zachary Edwards on Mar-22-2018

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

Rare

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

Imitable

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

Organisation

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

From the VRIO Analysis of Jane McCrea, 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 Jane McCrea is a competitive disadvantage. Research and Development is also a competitive disadvantage.