Case Study Description of Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma
Black Friday, the day after American Thanksgiving, marked the official start of the Christmas shopping season in the United States. It was a day that generally brought smiles to the executives of retailing giant Nordstrom, Inc. (Nordstrom). However, on November 28, 2014, Nordstrom had to deal with the tragic loss of a seasonal worker at a Nordstrom store in downtown Chicago. She had been killed in a workplace violence incident involving her former boyfriend. The event was a reminder of an earlier incident involving an Indianapolis-based employee who was terminated in November 2013. Even though Nordstrom had been a strong advocate for workplace safety, the retailer had endured public scrutiny after terminating the employee, who was victimized by her ex-boyfriend. These two workplace violence incidents made it necessary for Nordstrom's management to determine how best to protect all Nordstrom stakeholders in the future. Stewart Robert Miller is affiliated with University of Texas at San Antonio.
Authors :: Stewart Robert Miller, Pamela Paziotopoulos
Swot Analysis of "Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma" written by Stewart Robert Miller, Pamela Paziotopoulos includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Nordstrom Workplace facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Nordstrom Workplace, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Nordstrom Workplace 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 Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Nordstrom Workplace
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 Nordstrom Workplace
Strengths Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Nordstrom Workplace in Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Nordstrom Workplace to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Nordstrom Workplace to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Nordstrom Workplace 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 Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Nordstrom Workplace 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.
High brand equity
– Nordstrom Workplace has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Nordstrom Workplace to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Nordstrom Workplace 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 Nordstrom Workplace in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Nordstrom Workplace is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Nordstrom Workplace is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma 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.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Nordstrom Workplace digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Nordstrom Workplace 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.
Training and development
– Nordstrom Workplace has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma 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 Nordstrom Workplace 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.
Organizational Resilience of Nordstrom Workplace
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Nordstrom Workplace does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Nordstrom Workplace is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma HBR case study mentions - Nordstrom Workplace 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma, in the dynamic environment Nordstrom Workplace has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Nordstrom Workplace has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma 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 Nordstrom Workplace has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Stewart Robert Miller, Pamela Paziotopoulos suggests that, Nordstrom Workplace 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Nordstrom Workplace 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma, it seems that the employees of Nordstrom Workplace 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Nordstrom Workplace 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma 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 Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Nordstrom Workplace is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma 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 Nordstrom Workplace 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Nordstrom Workplace is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Nordstrom Workplace needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Nordstrom Workplace to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Nordstrom Workplace 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 - Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma | 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 Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Nordstrom Workplace has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Nordstrom Workplace to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma case study. Nordstrom Workplace can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Nordstrom Workplace has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Nordstrom Workplace can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Nordstrom Workplace in the consumer business. Now Nordstrom Workplace can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Nordstrom Workplace 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Nordstrom Workplace is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Nordstrom Workplace 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 Nordstrom Workplace to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Nordstrom Workplace 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Nordstrom Workplace 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Nordstrom Workplace can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Nordstrom Workplace can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Nordstrom Workplace operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
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. Nordstrom Workplace can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Nordstrom Workplace to increase its market reach. Nordstrom Workplace 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.
Threats Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Nordstrom Workplace 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 Nordstrom Workplace 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.
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 Nordstrom Workplace business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Nordstrom Workplace
– 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 Nordstrom Workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Nordstrom Workplace 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma, Nordstrom Workplace 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 .
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Nordstrom Workplace with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Nordstrom Workplace 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. Nordstrom Workplace 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.
Environmental challenges
– Nordstrom Workplace 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. Nordstrom Workplace can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
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 Nordstrom Workplace in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Nordstrom Workplace has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Nordstrom Workplace 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma 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 Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma 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 Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma 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 Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma 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 Nordstrom: The Workplace Violence Dilemma 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 Nordstrom Workplace needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.