Barney (1991) defines VRIO analysis as a strategic management tool used to analyze a company's internal resources and capabilities in an attempt to determine whether they can be used to gain an advantage competitive for the company. It involves asking and attempting to answer questions that ask whether a resource is: Valuable; Rare; expensive to imitate; What if a company is well organized to capture the value of assets? Any resource that meets all four requirements can bring a lasting competitive advantage to the company. The pictorial representation of the VRIO analysis tool is as shown below. Resource Rarity Those resources that are accessible to one or only a limited number of companies are considered rare. When a resource is valuable and rare, the firm gains a temporary competitive advantage, however if the resource is valuable but accessible to more than a few firms, competitive parity is achieved between firms (Jurevicius, 2013). Costly to Imitate ResourcesJurevicius (2013) explains that a resource is considered costly to imitate when other firms that do not have access to it are unable to imitate it, purchase it, or obtain a substitute, at a price considered reasonable for the purchasing firm. Imitation can occur through duplication or substitution (Jurevicius, 2013). Barney (1995) explains why some firms may have access to resources that are too expensive to imitate and unavailable to other firms. This may be due to historical factors, causal ambiguity, or simply sociological complexities. Resources developed over a long period of time, mostly as a result of intensive research and development, are too expensive for other companies to imitate. First mover advantages… middle of paper… or competitive advantage. Academy of Management Executive, 9(4), pp. 49-61. Jurevicius, O. (2013). VRIO Analysis, Strategic Management Insight. [online] available for access April 8, 2014.Masdar City, (n. d). The Global Energy Center of the Future: Masdar City. [online], available at 8 April 2014.Saxena, R.P. (2011). Dubai Mall: a multi-purpose destination in the Middle East. Researchgate.net. [online] available atZerkel, E. (2014). Masdar City: Sustainable City of the Future, The Weather Channel. [online] available at www.weather.com/news/science/earth-day/masdar-united-arab-emirates Sustainable-City-20130726 accessed April 7, 2014.