vrio-analysis

Runs Jay Barney's VRIO analysis to test whether a firm's resources and capabilities are a source of sustained competitive advantage. Each resource is run through four questions in order (Valuable, Rare, Costly to Imitate, Organized to capture value); the first "no" sets the verdict. It catches the failure of mistaking table-stakes resources rivals can match for durable advantage.

The four questions, the sources of inimitability, the decision table, and the pitfalls live in references/vrio.md. Load that file before analyzing and run each resource through the gates exactly.

When to use

The user wants to know whether a firm's strengths actually hold up as durable advantages, or whether they are table stakes that rivals match. The unit of analysis is a resource or capability, not the industry and not the firm as a whole. It pairs downstream of value-chain-analysis: the value chain finds where advantage lives across the firm's activities, and VRIO then tests whether each candidate resource that emerges from it actually lasts. For the external view of industry structure, use porters-five-forces instead.

Language

Conduct the session and write the report in the language the user is writing in. The reference file is English; keep the framework and the four questions keyed to it regardless of the output language.

Inputs

• FIRM (required): the company or business unit whose resources are tested.
• RESOURCES (optional): the resources or capabilities to put through VRIO. If the user has not listed them, surface candidates in Stage 0 before fanning out.
• CONTEXT (optional): the industry, key competitors, and the strategic question the analysis should inform. This shapes the value test (value is always relative to a specific opportunity or threat) and the synthesis.