Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise
A very successful Indian SME manufactured furnishing textiles and was operating exclusively in the exports sector. The company had no formal human resource (HR) systems and procedures nor did it have an HR manager. The sole proprietor took his only young son, an MBA, as a partner. He had his father's consent to his ambitious plans of business expansion, including manufacturing similar products to cater to the needs of the domestic market, and in this regard wanted to cash in on the Flaxo brand that the company had built over the years in the exports market by strengthening it in the domestic market as well. Narrates the typical business strategy and people-management practices that are followed by SMEs in the Indian context and helps understand managing people in SMEs, including the employee relations situation and the whole structural and procedural dynamics that surrounds these activities. These activities at Flaxo are marked by the practice of paternalism by a caring employer, whose leadership style helps it in getting a competitive edge through a higher degree of employee commitment. Highlights certain indigenous practices of employment and work organization that have become part of the culture of this industry, and focuses on the ways in which the owner gets greater advantage by building on these practices. Raises the dilemma of the new partner (son of the earlier owner) as to whether he should establish formal HR systems and procedures in his attempt to build the Flaxo brand and thus to professionalize people management, or should he continue with the time-tested existing indigenous practices, which are cost-effective and presently working well.
Swot Analysis of "Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise" written by Debi S. Saini includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Flaxo Exports facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Labor and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Flaxo Exports, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Flaxo Exports 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 Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Flaxo Exports
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 Flaxo Exports
Strengths Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Flaxo Exports in Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Flaxo Exports has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Flaxo Exports to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Flaxo Exports 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 Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Flaxo Exports to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Flaxo Exports to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Flaxo Exports has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Flaxo Exports 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Flaxo Exports is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Flaxo Exports 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Flaxo Exports is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Flaxo Exports is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Flaxo Exports has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Flaxo Exports 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 Flaxo Exports in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Flaxo Exports 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 Flaxo Exports is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Flaxo Exports is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Weaknesses Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Flaxo Exports products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Flaxo Exports needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Flaxo Exports 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. Flaxo Exports 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Flaxo Exports 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 Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise, it seems that the employees of Flaxo Exports 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Flaxo Exports 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 - Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise 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 Flaxo Exports 's lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Flaxo Exports is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Flaxo Exports 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Flaxo Exports 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Flaxo Exports needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise 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 Flaxo Exports has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise | 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 Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Flaxo Exports 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 Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Flaxo Exports to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Flaxo Exports 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.
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. Flaxo Exports can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Flaxo Exports 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 Flaxo Exports 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Flaxo Exports 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Flaxo Exports can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Flaxo Exports can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Flaxo Exports operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Flaxo Exports 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 Flaxo Exports to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Flaxo Exports can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Flaxo Exports 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Flaxo Exports is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise 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.
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 Flaxo Exports in the consumer business. Now Flaxo Exports can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Flaxo Exports 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.
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 Flaxo Exports 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 Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise, Flaxo Exports 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 .
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. Flaxo Exports needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Flaxo Exports needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Organizational Development industry regulations.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Flaxo Exports 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Flaxo Exports 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.
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 Flaxo Exports in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Flaxo Exports has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Flaxo Exports 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.
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. Flaxo Exports 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. Flaxo Exports 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.
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 Flaxo Exports business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise 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 Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise 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 Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise 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 Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise 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 Flaxo Exports: Managing People in a Small- to Medium-Sized Enterprise 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 Flaxo Exports needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
