I am going to analyze this article using VRINE model but first I will explain briefly what VRINE model is. The first letter V stands for valuable and it means a resource or capability is valuable if it allows a firm to take advantage of opportunities or to fend off threats in its environment, for an example Union Pacific Railroad’s rail system is a tangible resource that allows UP to compete with other carriers in the long-haul transportation of a variety of goods. The second letter R stands for rarity and it means a useful resource or capability that is scarce relative to demand, for an example when McDonald’s signs an agreement to build a restaurant inside a Wal-Mart store, it has an intangible advantage over Burger King that is valuable and rare. The third letter I stands for inimitability and it means a resource or capability is inimitable if competitors cannot acquire the valuable and rare resource quickly, or face a disadvantage in doing so, for an example Barnes & Noble’s large store network gave it access to customers and purchasing power that was inimitable. The fourth letter N stands for non-substitutability and it means if a competitor cannot achieve the same benefit using different combinations of resources and capabilities then it is non-substituable, for instance using the previous Barnes & Noble’s large store network as an example because it was inimitable so people found Amazon.com as a substitute with better deals. Lastly the fifth letter E stands for exploitability and it means a resource of capability that the organization has the capability to exploit or capability to generate value from, for an example Xerox invented the laser print, Ethernet, graphical-interface software and computer mouse but could not capitalize on these.
Now I am going to analyze the article using VRINE model by starting with value, Ryanair’s valuable resource is intangible and the resource it possessed is the brand itself.