The director of operations for Millway Fabrics Canada walked into her office and one of the customer service agents was waiting for her in tears. The customer service agent (agent) needed a week off to take care of her son who was about to have surgery to have his tonsils removed. The agent had already taken all her vacation and sick time due to her son's illness. The agent was a strong performer and was well-liked by her co-workers. The director of operations had to make a decision.
Swot Analysis of "Millway Fabrics Canada" written by James A. Erskine, Erin Donovan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Agent Millway facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Millway Fabrics Canada case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Human resource management, Work-life balance and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Millway Fabrics Canada casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Millway Fabrics Canada
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Millway Fabrics Canada case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Agent Millway, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Agent Millway 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 Millway Fabrics Canada can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Millway Fabrics Canada case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Agent Millway
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 Agent Millway
Strengths Millway Fabrics Canada | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Agent Millway in Millway Fabrics Canada Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Agent Millway 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 Millway Fabrics Canada HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Agent Millway has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Agent Millway to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Agent Millway is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Millway Fabrics Canada 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Agent Millway has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Agent Millway 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.
Organizational Resilience of Agent Millway
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Agent Millway does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Agent Millway has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Millway Fabrics Canada 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Agent Millway is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Agent Millway 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 Agent Millway is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Millway Fabrics Canada Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Agent Millway in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Millway Fabrics Canada 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Agent Millway in the sector have low bargaining power. Millway Fabrics Canada has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Agent Millway to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Agent Millway 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.
Weaknesses Millway Fabrics Canada | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Millway Fabrics Canada are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Millway Fabrics Canada 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 Agent Millway 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Millway Fabrics Canada 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 Millway Fabrics Canada can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Agent Millway is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Millway Fabrics Canada HBR case study mentions - Agent Millway 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 to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Agent Millway is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Millway Fabrics Canada can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, James A. Erskine, Erin Donovan suggests that, Agent Millway 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Agent Millway is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Agent Millway needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Agent Millway to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Agent Millway 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Millway Fabrics Canada, it seems that the employees of Agent Millway don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
High 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 Agent Millway supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Millway Fabrics Canada, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Agent Millway vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Agent Millway products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Agent Millway needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Millway Fabrics Canada 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 Agent Millway has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Millway Fabrics Canada | 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 Millway Fabrics Canada are -
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. Agent Millway 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. Agent Millway 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Agent Millway 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Agent Millway can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Agent Millway operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
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. Agent Millway can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Agent Millway is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Millway Fabrics Canada 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Agent Millway 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Agent Millway 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Agent Millway 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Agent Millway 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Agent Millway has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Agent Millway to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Millway Fabrics Canada case study. Agent Millway can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Agent Millway 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Agent Millway 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 Millway Fabrics Canada - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Agent Millway to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Agent Millway 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.
Threats Millway Fabrics Canada External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Millway Fabrics Canada are -
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 Agent Millway in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Agent Millway can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Agent Millway needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Millway Fabrics Canada, Agent Millway 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 .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Agent Millway with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Agent Millway 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Agent Millway 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.
Increasing wage structure of Agent Millway
– 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 Agent Millway.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Agent Millway has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Agent Millway 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.
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 Agent Millway.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Agent Millway 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 Millway Fabrics Canada .
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Millway Fabrics Canada 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 Millway Fabrics Canada 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 Millway Fabrics Canada 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 Millway Fabrics Canada 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 Millway Fabrics Canada 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 Agent Millway needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.