WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B)
In the fall of 1999 Garry Ridge, the newly appointed CEO of WD-40 Company, wanted to rejuvenate the company and stimulate its employees to look beyond the firm's relatively narrow focus of the last 43 years. The very nature of WD-40 Company's success in capturing the market had created its own limited growth opportunities. The A case describes the company's one-product business success, and Ridge's background. The B case reveals some of the challenges Ridge faced in implementing change. The B case tells how the new CEO helped WD-40 company achieve growth in both new products and markets through related acquisitions. Despite these purchases, though, the company's earnings failed to climb in the years between 1998 and 2001. Ridge concluded that he needed to do more than just buy more companies, so he framed a model of strong leadership and "learning theory" that he thought would enable the company outsmart its competitors. He built a framework that was demanding, yet forgiving, when individuals fell short. Ridge held employees responsible for their results, but he encouraged everyone to acknowledge mistakes and learn from them. The company's financial results suggest success for his leadership model. This case set lends instructors a valuable tool to conduct conversations in the classroom about leadership and leading strategic change.
Authors :: Gerry Yemen, James G. Clawson, Marcia Conner
Swot Analysis of "WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B)" written by Gerry Yemen, James G. Clawson, Marcia Conner includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Wd Ridge facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Knowledge management, Marketing, Organizational culture and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Wd Ridge, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Wd Ridge 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 WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Wd Ridge
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 Wd Ridge
Strengths WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Wd Ridge in WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Wd Ridge to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Wd Ridge to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Wd Ridge has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Wd Ridge 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.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Wd Ridge digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Wd Ridge 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.
High brand equity
– Wd Ridge has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Wd Ridge to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Wd Ridge is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Wd Ridge 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.
Training and development
– Wd Ridge has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) 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.
Learning organization
- Wd Ridge 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 Wd Ridge is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Wd Ridge 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 Wd Ridge in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Wd Ridge is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Wd Ridge 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 WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Wd Ridge 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.
Weaknesses WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Wd Ridge products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Wd Ridge needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B), in the dynamic environment Wd Ridge has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Wd Ridge has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Wd Ridge has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Gerry Yemen, James G. Clawson, Marcia Conner suggests that, Wd Ridge 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B), 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 to strategic competitive environment developments
– As WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) HBR case study mentions - Wd Ridge 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Wd Ridge 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Wd Ridge 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 - WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) 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 WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Wd Ridge is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) 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 Wd Ridge has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) 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 Wd Ridge 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) | 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 WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Wd Ridge can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Wd Ridge 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 WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Wd Ridge to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Wd Ridge can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Wd Ridge 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Wd Ridge 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 Wd Ridge 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Wd Ridge is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) 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.
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. Wd Ridge can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Wd Ridge 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. Wd Ridge 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.
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. Wd Ridge can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Wd Ridge can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Wd Ridge 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 Wd Ridge has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Wd Ridge to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) case study. Wd Ridge can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) are -
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. Wd Ridge needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Wd Ridge 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. Wd Ridge can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Increasing wage structure of Wd Ridge
– 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 Wd Ridge.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B), Wd Ridge 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Wd Ridge 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.
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 Wd Ridge.
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.
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 Wd Ridge business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Wd Ridge 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Wd Ridge 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Wd Ridge 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 WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) .
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. Wd Ridge 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 WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) 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 WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) 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 WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) 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 WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) 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 WD-40 Company: The Squeak, Smell, and Dirt Business (B) 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 Wd Ridge needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.