Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction
This is a Darden case study.This is a minicase, one of 10 in a set of short cases written to illustrate the business benefits companies realize through adopting sustainable business strategies. This minicase discusses the formation and implementation of Nike's sustainability strategy in the 1990s through 2006 including changes to product designs and supply chain policies.
Swot Analysis of "Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction" written by Andrea Larson, Jeff York includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Minicase Sustainability facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Disruptive innovation, Entrepreneurship, Financial management, International business, Strategy, Supply chain, Sustainability, Technology and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Minicase Sustainability, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Minicase Sustainability 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 Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Minicase Sustainability
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 Minicase Sustainability
Strengths Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Minicase Sustainability in Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Minicase Sustainability has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction 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.
Organizational Resilience of Minicase Sustainability
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Minicase Sustainability does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Minicase Sustainability digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Minicase Sustainability 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
– Minicase Sustainability has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Minicase Sustainability 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Minicase Sustainability is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction 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.
Learning organization
- Minicase Sustainability 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 Minicase Sustainability is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Minicase Sustainability is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Minicase Sustainability is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Minicase Sustainability 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Minicase Sustainability is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Minicase Sustainability in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Minicase Sustainability 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 Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction 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 Minicase Sustainability 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Minicase Sustainability 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction HBR case study mentions - Minicase Sustainability 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Minicase Sustainability is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Minicase Sustainability needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Minicase Sustainability to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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 Minicase Sustainability supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Minicase Sustainability vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction, in the dynamic environment Minicase Sustainability has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Minicase Sustainability has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Minicase Sustainability is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Minicase Sustainability has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction, 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Minicase Sustainability 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. Minicase Sustainability 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction, it seems that the employees of Minicase Sustainability 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.
Opportunities Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction | 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 Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Minicase Sustainability 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, Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Minicase Sustainability 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Minicase Sustainability 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
– Minicase Sustainability 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Minicase Sustainability has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Minicase Sustainability to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction case study. Minicase Sustainability can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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, Minicase Sustainability can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Minicase Sustainability operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Minicase Sustainability can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Minicase Sustainability 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.
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. Minicase Sustainability 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. Minicase Sustainability 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Minicase Sustainability 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Minicase Sustainability 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 Minicase Sustainability to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Minicase Sustainability 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Minicase Sustainability 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.
Threats Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Minicase Sustainability 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Minicase Sustainability is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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 Minicase Sustainability in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Minicase Sustainability 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 Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Minicase Sustainability 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. Minicase Sustainability 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction, Minicase Sustainability 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 .
Environmental challenges
– Minicase Sustainability 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. Minicase Sustainability can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
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 Minicase Sustainability business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Minicase Sustainability 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.
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.
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. Minicase Sustainability can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction 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 Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction 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 Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction 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 Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction 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 Nike: Moving Down the Sustainability Track Through Chemical Substitution and Waste Reduction 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 Minicase Sustainability needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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