Framework

VRIN attributes

The question it answers

When setting long-term strategy, which of the firm's resources are valuable, rare, hard to imitate and non-substitutable enough to give the leadership team a sustained competitive advantage?

Origin
Barney, 1991; Priem & Butler, 2001; Barney, 2001
Diagram type
Decision flow
Level of analysis
Firm
Topics
Strategy & leadership
Chess knight on a glass compass, icon for strategy and leadership

Diagram

VRIN attributes

  1. Valuable?Does the resource help exploit an opportunity or neutralise a threat?Competitive disadvantage: the resource does not help.
  2. Rare?Do few current or potential rivals hold it?Competitive parity: many others have it.
  3. Imperfectly imitable?Would rivals face a cost disadvantage in obtaining it?History, causal ambiguity, social complexity.Temporary advantage: it will be copied.
  4. Non-substitutable?Can rivals get the same result with a different resource?Advantage is exposed to substitutes.
Sustained competitive advantage

Pitfalls

Pitfall

Labelling a strength 'VRIN' with no comparison against rivals. Priem and Butler's critique: the framework risks being circular.

Sources

References

Listed A–Z by author surname, Harvard style. A source with a DOI links to https://doi.org/…; one without links to its page or says plainly that it has no DOI.

  1. Barney, J.B. (1991) ‘Firm resources and sustained competitive advantage’, Journal of Management, 17(1), pp. 99–120.doi:10.1177/014920639101700108Source page
  2. Barney, J.B. (2001) ‘Is the resource-based 'view' a useful perspective for strategic management research? Yes’, Academy of Management Review, 26(1), pp. 41–56.doi:10.5465/amr.2001.4011938Source page
  3. Priem, R.L. and Butler, J.E. (2001) ‘Is the resource-based 'view' a useful perspective for strategic management research?’, Academy of Management Review, 26(1), pp. 22–40.doi:10.5465/amr.2001.4011928Source page