Case Study Description of Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders
Delhaize Group, the Belgian-based global food retailer, was focused on competing in the food retailing industry by developing leading positions in key markets via localized retailing strategies. Delhaize was committed to offering its customers superior value while maintaining high social, environmental, and ethical standards. For Frans Muller, Delhaize's president and CEO, the key to executing on this strategy was ensuring that the Group was developing leaders with the requisite skills and competencies. In light of this, Muller felt it was important to assess the Group's leadership development practices. Were the current training and development programs effective? What were the leadership skills that would be needed to execute on Delhaize's strategic plan, both today and in the future?
Swot Analysis of "Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders" written by Boris Groysberg, Sarah L. Abbott includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Delhaize Delhaize's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Leadership development, Organizational culture, Talent management and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Delhaize Delhaize's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Delhaize Delhaize's 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.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Delhaize Delhaize's
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 Delhaize Delhaize's
Strengths Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Delhaize Delhaize's in Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Delhaize Delhaize's in the sector have low bargaining power. Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Delhaize Delhaize's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
High brand equity
– Delhaize Delhaize's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Delhaize Delhaize's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Delhaize Delhaize's is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Delhaize Delhaize's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Delhaize Delhaize's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Delhaize Delhaize's 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 Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Delhaize Delhaize's 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 Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Delhaize Delhaize's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Delhaize Delhaize's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Delhaize Delhaize's is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Boris Groysberg, Sarah L. Abbott can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Delhaize Delhaize's 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Delhaize Delhaize's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Delhaize Delhaize's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Delhaize Delhaize's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders 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.
Weaknesses Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders 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 Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Delhaize Delhaize's is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders HBR case study mentions - Delhaize Delhaize's takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Delhaize Delhaize's has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Delhaize Delhaize's even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Delhaize Delhaize's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Delhaize Delhaize's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Delhaize Delhaize's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders, 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Delhaize Delhaize's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Delhaize Delhaize's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Delhaize Delhaize's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Delhaize Delhaize's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders, is just above the industry average. Delhaize Delhaize's 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders, in the dynamic environment Delhaize Delhaize's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Delhaize Delhaize's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Lack of clear differentiation of Delhaize Delhaize's products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Delhaize Delhaize's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders | 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 Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders are -
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 Delhaize Delhaize's in the consumer business. Now Delhaize Delhaize's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Delhaize Delhaize's 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 Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Delhaize Delhaize's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Delhaize Delhaize's 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Delhaize Delhaize's to increase its market reach. Delhaize Delhaize's 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
– Delhaize Delhaize's 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Delhaize Delhaize's in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Organizational Development segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Delhaize Delhaize's can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Delhaize Delhaize's 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 Delhaize Delhaize's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Delhaize Delhaize's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Delhaize Delhaize's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Delhaize Delhaize's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Delhaize Delhaize's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Delhaize Delhaize's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Delhaize Delhaize's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Threats Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders are -
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. Delhaize Delhaize's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Delhaize Delhaize's.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders, Delhaize Delhaize's may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .
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 Delhaize Delhaize's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Delhaize Delhaize's 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.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Delhaize Delhaize's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Delhaize Delhaize's needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Organizational Development sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Delhaize Delhaize's can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Delhaize Delhaize's in the Organizational Development industry. The Organizational Development industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Delhaize Delhaize's high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
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. Delhaize Delhaize's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Delhaize Delhaize's 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders 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 Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders 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 Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders 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 Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders 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 Delhaize Group: Developing Leaders 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 Delhaize Delhaize's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
