Question

Here I constructed a. VRIO FRAMEWORK BASED ON INGRAM MICRO - PLEASE CONSTRUCT AND ASSESS EACH OF THE RESOUCES I LISTED IN THE TABLE TO DISCUSS THE ASSESSMENT (AN ANALYSIS O EACH RESOUCE /CAPABILITY ) FOR EXAMPLE I ASSESED INGRAM MICRO TO HAVE A STRONG FINANCIAL FOUNDATON LISTED AS VALUABLE RARE AND DIFFICULT TO IMITATE AND THE ORGANIZATIOIN USES IT PROPERLY THIS IS BECAUSE .......PLESE COMPLETENLLL ASPECTS

(Wheelen, Hunger, Hoffman& Bamford, 2015, p129) RESOURCE: VALUABLE RARE? COSTLY TO ORGANIZED COMPETITIVE IMITATE? PROPERLY? ADVANTAGES STRONG CUSTOMER RELATIONSHIPS NO YES YES PARITY STRONG FINANCIAL FOUNDATION STRONG SUPPLIER RELATIONSIPS YES YES YES NO |NO NO |YES YES SUSTAINED ADVANTAGE PAIRITY STRONG CHANNEL RELATIONSHIPS YES PARITY STRONG BRAND REPUTATION YES YES YES YES SUSTAINED ADVANTAGED PARITY PRODCUT DIFFERENTATION YES YES EFFICIENT OPERATIONS YES NO YES YES PARITY SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY NO İYES PARITY Ingram Micro is operating in a very competitive market, where adjustments are necessary for growth and sustainability. Current cash flow and resources will be invested on their strengths

Answer 1

The VRIO framework is a way for firm's to judge which of their internal resources can lead to a sustained competitive advantage. We will applying he same to the resources mentioned above -

1. Strong customer relationships - It has an intangible value associated with it which is much harder to replicate than the tangible assets. However it is not a rare resource, hence, with money and talent the results can be replicated. In the VRIO framework, this will be called competitor parity. Competitor parity refers to a situation where the resource is valuable but fairly common.

2. Strong Financial Foundation - This also has an intangible value associated with it, making it more difficult to imitate. For there to be a strong financial foundation, it has to be very well organised and systematic. Furthermore good financial foundation is a rare resource as not everyone manages to create the same. In the VRIO framework, this will lead be catagorised as Sustained advantage.

3. Strong Supplier Relationships - This too has an intangible value associated with it, however it is not costly to imitate. Furthermore it is not a rare resource, rather it is an industry standard. Therefore the resource is well organised. This will lead to competitor parity.

4. Strong Channel Sales - This component provides value to companies stemming from the strategic level. It is costly to imitate and has to be organised in order to utilise the same. However it is not a rare resource so we land up in competitor parity.

5. Strong Brand Reputation - This is one of the most valuable attributes in a company's life. It is a valuable, rare and very costly to imitate. Every company cultivates a different brand over time with their actions and positioning just to name a few factors. Brands also evolve over time making them almost impossible to imitate. It has to be organised properly for it provide benefit to shareholders. Hence, this is a source of sustained competitive advantage.

6. Product Differentiation - While this resource is valuable and costly to imitate due to market positioning, brand equity etc, it is not rare. So even though it well organised, it falls in competitive parity.

7. Efficient Operations - This provides tremendous value as this is the backbone of a company's product. Furthermore, the ability to fulfil orders in an efficient manner is an important requirement which is costly to imitate as one requires economies of scale and large one time investments among other things.The problem is that it's not rare, hence it belongs to competitive parity.

8. Social Responsibility - It plays into the overall image of the company as a responsible shareholder in the environment, thus providing a lot of intangible value. At time, it requires access to various networks and should fit into the overall branding of the organisation hence it is costly to imitate. It has to be well organised for the benefit of the society. However it is not rare, hence it belongs to competitive parity.