Valuable, Rare, Inimitable Resources and Organization (VRIO) Resources or Valuable, Rare, Inimitable Resources (VRI) Capabilities: What Leads to Competitive Advantage?

Cardeal, N., António, N. (2012): Valuable, rare, inimitable resources and organization (VRIO) resources or valuable, rare, inimitable resources (VRI) capabilities: What leads to competitive advantage?, African Journal of Business Management Vol. 6(37), pp. 10159-10170

12 Pages Posted: 1 Nov 2013

See all articles by Nuno Cardeal

Nuno Cardeal

Catolica-Lisbon School of Business & Economics

Nelson Santos Antonio

University Institute of Lisbon (IUL) - CIES-IUL, ISCTE (Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology)

Date Written: July 13, 2012

Abstract

The resource-based view (RBV) argues that valuable, rare, inimitable resources and organization (VRIO) lead to competitive advantage. Dynamic capabilities (DC) are a comparatively new field and the related literature is mainly conceptual. Capabilities can be considered as the firm’s routines and processes. We argue that the “O” in VRIO refers to DC. DCs are the “organization” needed to transform bundles of resources into competitive advantage. Consequently, does competitive advantage stem from VRIO resources or from VRI capabilities? Through a case study we analyzed the development of one capability in a medium-sized Portuguese footwear manufacturer. After reviewing the process of development of the capability, we performed a VRIO test for each of the resources it exploits and a VRI test of the capability. We can conclude that none of the resources contributing to the capability are VRIO, but the capability is VRI.

Keywords: competitive advantage, dynamic capabilities, footwear, resource-based view

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JEL Classification: M00, M10, M20

Suggested Citation

Cardeal, Nuno and Antonio, Nelson Santos, Valuable, Rare, Inimitable Resources and Organization (VRIO) Resources or Valuable, Rare, Inimitable Resources (VRI) Capabilities: What Leads to Competitive Advantage? (July 13, 2012). Cardeal, N., António, N. (2012): Valuable, rare, inimitable resources and organization (VRIO) resources or valuable, rare, inimitable resources (VRI) capabilities: What leads to competitive advantage?, African Journal of Business Management Vol. 6(37), pp. 10159-10170, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2347978

Nuno Cardeal (Contact Author)

Catolica-Lisbon School of Business & Economics ( email )

Palma de Cima
Lisboa, Lisboa 1649-023
Portugal

Nelson Santos Antonio

University Institute of Lisbon (IUL) - CIES-IUL, ISCTE (Centre for Research and Studies in Sociology) ( email )

Av. das Forças Armadas
Av. Professor Anibal Bettencourt
Lisbon, 1649-026
Portugal

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