Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business
Founded in 1965 by Jim Thompson, the Crown Worldwide Group ("Crown") began as a small moving company in Japan, shifting its headquarters to Hong Kong in the mid-1970s. Within 30 years, Crown had became the world's largest privately held relocation and logistics enterprise, a success that was attributed primarily to the founder's insistence on high service quality and unwavering commitment to community development. With growing concern among customers about CSR, the company recognized that CSR must be integrated into its corporate strategy and day-to-day business operations to achieve sustainability for both the company and society. In 2008, Crown appointed its first CSR director, whose primary task was to develop and implement a standardized global CSR strategy that would support Crown's environmental and community development initiatives. Various CSR integration steps were taken, such as developing global environmental standards, stimulating employee volunteerism, building CSR communication channels, developing a supplier management system and conducting CSR measurement. In line with the goals of the UN Global Compact-a leadership initiative that guided participants in practicing responsible business-Crown would also publish sustainability reports yearly. Although employees were supportive of the company's CSR efforts, the journey of becoming a well rounded corporate citizen is full of complexities and involves a wide range of stakeholders and multi-dimensional issues. Without a roadmap or framework, CSR integration efforts could be daunting, but inaction is no longer an option in light of increasing CSR expectations. What would be the key success factors for Crown's CSR integration?
Authors :: Ali Farhoomand, Ricky Lai, Claudia H. L. Woo
Swot Analysis of "Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business" written by Ali Farhoomand, Ricky Lai, Claudia H. L. Woo includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Csr Crown facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate governance, Economic development, Ethics, Leadership, Social responsibility and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices,
geopolitical disruptions, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Csr Crown, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Csr Crown 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 Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Csr Crown
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 Csr Crown
Strengths Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Csr Crown in Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Csr Crown to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Csr Crown to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Csr Crown 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 Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business 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
– Csr Crown has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Csr Crown to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Csr Crown is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Csr Crown is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Csr Crown in the sector have low bargaining power. Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Csr Crown to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Csr Crown 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 Csr Crown in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Csr Crown is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Csr Crown is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Csr Crown digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Csr Crown has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Csr Crown has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Csr Crown 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.
Weaknesses Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Csr Crown 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. Csr Crown 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.
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 Csr Crown supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Csr Crown 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, Csr Crown is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business 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 Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Csr Crown is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Csr Crown 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ali Farhoomand, Ricky Lai, Claudia H. L. Woo suggests that, Csr Crown 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Csr Crown, firm in the HBR case study Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Csr Crown 's lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Csr Crown has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Csr Crown has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business, is just above the industry average. Csr Crown 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.
Opportunities Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business | 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 Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Csr Crown 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.
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 Csr Crown in the consumer business. Now Csr Crown can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Csr Crown is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business 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
– Csr Crown can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Csr Crown 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Csr Crown can develop new processes and procedures in Organizational Development industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Csr Crown has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Csr Crown to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business case study. Csr Crown can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Csr Crown to increase its market reach. Csr Crown 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.
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. Csr Crown can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Csr Crown 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 Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Csr Crown to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Csr Crown 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 Csr Crown 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, Csr Crown 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, Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Csr Crown with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business, Csr Crown 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 .
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.
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 Csr Crown.
Environmental challenges
– Csr Crown 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. Csr Crown can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Csr Crown 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Csr Crown 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 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. Csr Crown needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Csr Crown 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Csr Crown 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Csr Crown is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Csr Crown
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Csr Crown.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business 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 Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business 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 Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business 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 Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business 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 Crown Worldwide: Integrating Corporate Social Responsibility in Business 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 Csr Crown needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.