VRIO, Steve Jobs and Apple

I read an article in the New York Times about how Steve Jobs has changed the PC industry. It talks about how Steve Jobs changed the industry by infusing passion into a commodity. He created a new industry of sorts. The article speaks of how Steve Jobs focused, not only on technology advancements, but on design advancements. He was able to infuse passion by creating a new product, a product that was easy-to-use, functional, technologically advanced and aesthetically pleasing. Applying the VRIO Model of Sustained Competitive Advantage, we can better understand why Apple, under the management of Steve Jobs, has created such a sustainable company and such sustainable products, such as the IPod, in very unsustainable industry.

IPods, IPads, MacBooks, IPhones and other Apple products are all very desirable in the different industries they represent: cellphone, music, PC and other technology industries. Are Apple products Valuable? They are very valuable because they are something that consumers want. Specifically focusing on IPods, IPods are incredibly valuable to the consumer because they represent a social status and are incredibly functional. Are Apple products rare? Because they are so technically advanced and also have the unique design feature, Apple products are very rare within the different industries. IPods specifically are rare. They are unique. Are Apple products Costly to Imitate? Again, because of the unique design features they are difficult to imitate. Within the mobile music device industry, Apple has also included ITunes which no other mobile music device company has been able to match in ease of use, variety of music and popularity. Are Apple products exploited by the organization? I believe that Apple truly has figured out how to make full use of its products as well as to exploit the benefits offered by its products. IPods have been released and rereleased time and time again with new features, new designs and new markets.

In conclusion, it seems that Apple has been able to achieve sustained competitive advantage because it has created valuable, rare, hard to imitate and beneficial products that the company has been able to exploit well. Steve Jobs may be the mastermind behind Apple, and now that he has passed away a lot of shareholders and industry analyzers want to know if Apple will be able to continue with their competitive advantage. I believe that because of the culture of Apple, innovation is so highly prized, that there will always be new designs and new ideas within Apple that will help to achieve competitive advantage in a highly unstable and constantly changing industry.