VRIO Framework

The VRIO framework is a tool for internal strategic analysis, developed from the resource-based view of the firm and most closely associated with the work of Jay Barney, that evaluates a company's resources and capabilities against four criteria: whether a resource is Valuable, Rare, costly to Imitate, and whether the Organization is set up to exploit it. A resource that satisfies all four conditions is considered a potential source of sustained competitive advantage, while a resource that fails one or more of the earlier criteria offers a weaker or merely temporary advantage. The framework is widely taught as a structured way of assessing which of a firm's internal resources and capabilities are genuinely strategic rather than simply useful.