Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain

In 2007, Walmart was sourcing approximately $750 million in seafood annually. Although output from the world's fisheries had declined to 3 percent of production levels in the year 1900, the company's volume of seafood business was growing at roughly 25 percent per year. Against this backdrop, Peter Redmond, vice president for seafood and deli, believed that continuity of supply was the single greatest long-term issue facing the seafood network. To help address this challenge as part of the company's recently-announced sustainability strategy, Walmart set a goal to transition to selling 100 percent MSC certified wild-caught seafood by the end of 2011. To accomplish its goal of selling only certified wild-caught fish, Walmart would have to work through its suppliers to increase the number of fisheries and processing plants in the MSC certification program. This case describes MSC certification and the salmon supply chain from the point of view of one of Walmart's tier-one seafood suppliers. It provides enough detail that students should be able to make recommendations regarding how should Walmart rationalize its seafood supply chain to reduce costs and promote sustainability.

Authors :: Erica Plambeck, Lyn Denend

Topics :: Organizational Development

Tags :: Sustainability, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain" written by Erica Plambeck, Lyn Denend includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Seafood Walmart facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Sustainability and Organizational Development.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Seafood Walmart, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Seafood Walmart operates in.

According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Seafood Walmart
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Seafood Walmart

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Strengths Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Seafood Walmart in Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain Harvard Business Review case study are -

Strong track record of project management

– Seafood Walmart is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Seafood Walmart has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Seafood Walmart has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Seafood Walmart is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Seafood Walmart has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Seafood Walmart has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.

Innovation driven organization

– Seafood Walmart is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Training and development

– Seafood Walmart has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Seafood Walmart are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.

High brand equity

– Seafood Walmart has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Seafood Walmart to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Seafood Walmart has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Seafood Walmart in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Diverse revenue streams

– Seafood Walmart is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.

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Weaknesses Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain are -

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Seafood Walmart is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain, it seems that the employees of Seafood Walmart don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Erica Plambeck, Lyn Denend suggests that, Seafood Walmart is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.

High dependence on existing supply chain

– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Seafood Walmart supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Seafood Walmart vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Need for greater diversity

– Seafood Walmart has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain, is just above the industry average. Seafood Walmart needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Seafood Walmart, firm in the HBR case study Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Seafood Walmart has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Seafood Walmart has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Seafood Walmart is planning to shift buying processes online.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Organizational Development strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.

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Opportunities Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain are -

Reconfiguring business model

– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Seafood Walmart to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.

Identify volunteer opportunities

– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Seafood Walmart can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Seafood Walmart can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Seafood Walmart to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Seafood Walmart to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Seafood Walmart to increase its market reach. Seafood Walmart will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.

Manufacturing automation

– Seafood Walmart can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Organizational Development segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Seafood Walmart in the consumer business. Now Seafood Walmart can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Seafood Walmart has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Seafood Walmart to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain case study. Seafood Walmart can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Seafood Walmart can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Organizational Development segment.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– Consumer behavior has changed in the Organizational Development industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Seafood Walmart can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Seafood Walmart can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Seafood Walmart has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Seafood Walmart to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Seafood Walmart to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Seafood Walmart can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Seafood Walmart operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.

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Threats Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain are -

Environmental challenges

– Seafood Walmart needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Seafood Walmart can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.

Capital market disruption

– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Seafood Walmart.

Regulatory challenges

– Seafood Walmart needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Organizational Development industry regulations.

High level of anxiety and lack of motivation

– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Seafood Walmart needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Seafood Walmart with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Instability in the European markets

– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Seafood Walmart will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.

New competition

– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Seafood Walmart in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Seafood Walmart demand

– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.

Backlash against dominant players

– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Seafood Walmart business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Organizational Development field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Seafood Walmart can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Seafood Walmart is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Seafood Walmart can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.

Aging population

– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain Template, Example

Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants. We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –

First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.

Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.

Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Walmart's Sustainability Strategy (C): Inventory Management in the Seafood Supply Chain is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Seafood Walmart needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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