Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad
When students have the English-language PDF of this Brief Case in a coursepack, they will also have the option to purchase an audio version.In May 2007, the Engstrom Auto Mirrors plant, a relatively small supplier based in Indiana, faces a crisis. The business was in the second year of a downturn. Sales had started to decline in 2005; a year later, plant manager Ron Bent had been forced to lay off more than 20 percent of the work force. Plant productivity was dropping, employee morale was low, and product-quality issues had begun to surface. Relationships with key customers were at risk. Downturns were not new at Engstrom. When the plant had reached a similar crisis point years earlier, the institution of a Scanlon Plan, a company-wide employee incentive program, had proven critical in building morale, increasing productivity and product quality, and leading Engstrom into a turnaround. For several subsequent years, Engstrom workers had received regular Scanlon pay bonuses. But the bonuses had stopped in 2006, and now Ron Bent must determine how to get the plant back on track. Should he revise the Scanlon setup? Remove Scanlon and try another plan? Identify and change other organizational factors that may be sabotaging Scanlon?
Swot Analysis of "Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad" written by Michael Beer, Elizabeth Collins includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Engstrom Scanlon facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Human resource management, Labor, Leadership, Manufacturing, Motivating people, Organizational culture and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Engstrom Scanlon, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Engstrom Scanlon 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 Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Engstrom Scanlon
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 Engstrom Scanlon
Strengths Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Engstrom Scanlon in Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Engstrom Scanlon in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Engstrom Scanlon 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.
Analytics focus
– Engstrom Scanlon is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Michael Beer, Elizabeth Collins can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Engstrom Scanlon to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Engstrom Scanlon to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Engstrom Scanlon
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Engstrom Scanlon does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Engstrom Scanlon is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Engstrom Scanlon 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Engstrom Scanlon is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– Engstrom Scanlon is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Engstrom Scanlon in the sector have low bargaining power. Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Engstrom Scanlon to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Engstrom Scanlon has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Engstrom Scanlon to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Engstrom Scanlon 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 Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad are -
Need for greater diversity
– Engstrom Scanlon 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Engstrom Scanlon 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Engstrom Scanlon is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad 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, Engstrom Scanlon 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Engstrom Scanlon, firm in the HBR case study Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad, it seems that the employees of Engstrom Scanlon 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad, 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Engstrom Scanlon products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Engstrom Scanlon needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Engstrom Scanlon supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Engstrom Scanlon vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad HBR case study mentions - Engstrom Scanlon 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad 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 Engstrom Scanlon has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad | 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 Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Engstrom Scanlon 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Engstrom Scanlon 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, Engstrom Scanlon is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Engstrom Scanlon to increase its market reach. Engstrom Scanlon 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Engstrom Scanlon 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 Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Engstrom Scanlon to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Engstrom Scanlon has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Engstrom Scanlon to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad case study. Engstrom Scanlon can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Engstrom Scanlon in the consumer business. Now Engstrom Scanlon can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Engstrom Scanlon 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Engstrom Scanlon 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, Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– Engstrom Scanlon 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Engstrom Scanlon 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Engstrom Scanlon 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 Engstrom Scanlon 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. Engstrom Scanlon can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Engstrom Scanlon 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Engstrom Scanlon 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.
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 Engstrom Scanlon business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Engstrom Scanlon can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Engstrom Scanlon.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Engstrom Scanlon with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Engstrom Scanlon
– 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 Engstrom Scanlon.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Engstrom Scanlon is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Engstrom Scanlon 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 Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad .
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. Engstrom Scanlon needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Engstrom Scanlon 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.
Environmental challenges
– Engstrom Scanlon 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. Engstrom Scanlon can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad, Engstrom Scanlon 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad 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 Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad 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 Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad 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 Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad 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 Engstrom Auto Mirror Plant: Motivating in Good Times and Bad 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 Engstrom Scanlon needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.