The Robo Company, makers of small engines for lawn mowers, reviews its strategic management process quarterly. Among the areas of review are internal environment assets, which include resources and capabilities to maintain success and grow new ventures to build an advantage over rivals. They frequently use the VRIO tool (valuable, rare, difficult to imitate, and organized to capture value) to assess their resources and capabilities. Two of their resources are their loyal customers and extremely high customer satisfaction, and one of their capabilities is paying above-average wages. They have a large manufacturing plant with older equipment. All engines are built manually, they have an experienced workforce. Customer service is handled by two part-time employees, and they get high ratings. Go-Fast Company is a competitor, also a maker of small engines for lawnmowers. After using the VRIO tool, they listed one of their resources as "loyal customers" and one of their capabilities as "paying above-average wages." They have a smaller manufacturing company, with newer equipment and automated processes. They have a workforce who is more technical but less experienced in the manufacturing of their product. They are working on adding a full-time customer service representative to improve consumer relations and capitalize on their high brand loyalty. Robo and Go-Fast are rivals, and they are seeking a way to gain a competitive advantage beyond their product and the VRIO findings. What are some areas that The Robo Company could gain a competitive edge that were not noted in the VRIO findings?

Understanding Business
12th Edition
ISBN:9781259929434
Author:William Nickels
Publisher:William Nickels
Chapter1: Taking Risks And Making Profits Within The Dynamic Business Environment
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The Robo Company, makers of small engines for lawn mowers, reviews its strategic management process quarterly. Among the areas of review are internal environment assets, which include resources and capabilities to maintain success and grow new ventures to build an advantage over rivals.

They frequently use the VRIO tool (valuable, rare, difficult to imitate, and organized to capture value) to assess their resources and capabilities. Two of their resources are their loyal customers and extremely high customer satisfaction, and one of their capabilities is paying above-average wages.

They have a large manufacturing plant with older equipment. All engines are built manually, they have an experienced workforce. Customer service is handled by two part-time employees, and they get high ratings.

Go-Fast Company is a competitor, also a maker of small engines for lawnmowers. After using the VRIO tool, they listed one of their resources as "loyal customers" and one of their capabilities as "paying above-average wages." They have a smaller manufacturing company, with newer equipment and automated processes. They have a workforce who is more technical but less experienced in the manufacturing of their product. They are working on adding a full-time customer service representative to improve consumer relations and capitalize on their high brand loyalty.

Robo and Go-Fast are rivals, and they are seeking a way to gain a competitive advantage beyond their product and the VRIO findings.

What are some areas that The Robo Company could gain a competitive edge that were not noted in the VRIO findings?

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