Delta Airlines, Inc is commonly known as Delta. It is one of a major airlines in United States as a legacy carrier. The company is headquartered in Georgia. The firm along with the regional affiliates and subsidiaries, including the Delta Connection usually operates more than 5,400 flights every day and also serves to 325 destination in almost 52 countries on 6 continents. Delta airline is the founding member of Sky team airline alliance. Every year, almost 200 million travelers use Delta airline for travelling purpose. The company believes in bringing people together rather than to the place (Delta, 2020).
VRIO analysis is an analytical tool used for determining the resources and capabilities of the company. The VRIO analysis of Delta examines the value, rarity, inimitability, and organization of its assets and capabilities to determine the firm’s sustained competitive advantage. Here is the detailed VRIO analysis of Delta airline.
Value
Value is the first component of the VRIO model. It is necessary for the companies to identify its valuable resources and capabilities, as this enables the firm to achieve competitive advantage. Valuable resources help the company in making strong image among competitors and in the industry. Delta Airline is one of the biggest name in the United States airline industry. The company is able to build strong financial position which is considered as important resource. Moreover, the organizational resources of Delta with strategic alliances. Dell has been serving to huge customer base which are loyal to them. Delta airline also has the capability of diversification which helps the company in achieving competitive advantage (Martin, 2016).
Rarity
Second component of the VRIO model is rarity of the resources. The company should acquire the rare resources and capabilities, which few or one company own. If the resources are valuable and rare, company can use it for its own benefits. The valuable and rare resources help the company to achieve competitive parity. Delta airline has made its operations advance and efficient. The management information system is rare of the Delta airline. The company make sure to operate its information system efficiently and make sure on all the technicalities. The large customer base is also a rare resource for the company. Moreover, Delta airline is operating on large scale, its information technology is very advance and efficient (Casemess, 2020).
Imitability
Third component of the model is Imitability of the resources. It is necessary for the company to achieve the resources that are hard to copy or expensive to acquire. Resources which are rare, value and hard to imitate can enable the firm to achieve competitive advantage, but not for long run. Delta Airline has achieved this component due to its marketing capabilities. The creative ads and promotional campaigns help the company to reach to its vast and large target audience. Its geographical locations where the airline is serving is much larger than its competitors. its financial resources and capability are very strong which are hard to be imitate by the rivals (Byrne, 2018).
Organization
The last component of the VRIO model is Organization. All three components will not alone help the company to achieve sustained competitive advantage if the last component will not be achieved. The resources and capabilities are needed to be organized. Delta Airlines make sure to organize its resources and capabilities. Its human resource is very well managed and organized. The inventory and operations of the company are highly organized and well managed. This helps the Delta in achieving the sustained competitive advantage for long period of time (Martin, 2016).
Conclusion
Delta Airline is one of a famous airline company in United States. It has developed its brand image over a period of time and achieved success. The company has achieved all the VRIO model’s component and enjoy sustained competitive advantage.
| V | R | I | O | ||
| Supply Chain | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Competitive advantage | |
| Inventory management | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Sustainable competitive advantage |
| Brand Equity | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Sustainable competitive advantage |
| Marketing | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Sustainable competitive advantage |
| Service quality | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Sustainable competitive advantage |
| Talented HR | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ | Competitive advantage |
References
Byrne, T. 2018. Delta Airline Value chain analysis. [Online], Available at: https://www.essay48.com/value-chain-analysis/12675-Delta-Air-Lines-Value-Chain-Analysis, [Accessed on: 2nd May, 2020].
Case mess, 2020. VRIO analysis of Delta airlines. [Online], Available at: https://casemess.com/ivey/delta-air-lines-inc/vrio-analysis.php, [Accessed on: 2nd May, 2020].
Delta, 2020. About us. [Online], Available at: https://www.delta.com/us/en/about-delta/overview, [Accessed on: 2nd May, 2020].
Martin, E. 2016. Delta Airlines. [Online], Available at: https://prezi.com/v9uye3ggqnwe/delta-airlines/, [Accessed on: 2nd May, 2020].