Chapter Five

Applying the VRIO framework for evaluating an organization from a resources view point, I'll attempt to break down Wright's strengths and weaknesses.

VALUE

Most of the products manufactured at the raw level are valuable resources.  Special grade titanium for example, is a key factor in one of the ankle replacement product lines.  Excess titanium scrap from the manufacturing process can actually be sold for reuse.  This tells me that not only is it valuable, it maintains its value.

RARITY

For the most part, most of the resources Wright medical has from a production standpoint are easily accessible to the rest of the market.  Given the nature of the medical device industry, there are a select few materials that are regulated and accepted in the manufacturing process.  Develop of new material is heavily regulated, therefore rarity is hard to achieve.

IMITABILITY

There is really very little differentiation in the product technology.  Most innovations are made to make operations more efficient.  Yes, the resources are easily imitated, but the operations management is much harder to duplicate from organization to organization.

ORGANIZATION

For the most part, there is very little benefit in exploiting medical devices because of the regulations involved not only in the manufacturing of the devices but in the distribution as well.  Doctors and hospitals aren't going to purchase unregulated product.  Exploitation is minimal in this industry considering compensation also has to go through several levels of clearance before getting reimbursed.

This evaluation of Wright Medical's resources shows me that there is little competitive advantage to be gained from the valuation of it's resources from a production standpoint.  There is much room however to expand upon the VRIO of it's intangible resources from production management to customer experience.