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Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens


In response to Stanley Work's announcement that it is moving to Bermuda--and the associated jump in market value--a major competitor sets out to determine how the market is valuing the consequences of moving to a tax haven and whether his company should invert to a tax haven. In particular, the competitor's CFO needs to attribute Stanley's stock price movements across several dimensions of potential tax savings (tax savings on foreign operations and on interest payments) to see if there might be something else at play (earnings stripping). In the process, the mechanics and incentives created by the international tax regime are illustrated. To obtain executable spreadsheets (courseware), please contact our customer service department at custserv@hbsp.harvard.edu.

Authors :: Mihir A. Desai, Mark F. Veblen, James R. Hines Jr.

Topics :: Finance & Accounting

Tags :: Financial analysis, Financial management, International business, Mergers & acquisitions, Performance measurement, Policy, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens" written by Mihir A. Desai, Mark F. Veblen, James R. Hines Jr. includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Tax Haven facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial analysis, Financial management, International business, Mergers & acquisitions, Performance measurement, Policy and Finance & Accounting.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens casestudy better are - – technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Tax Haven, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Tax Haven 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 Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Tax Haven
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Tax Haven




Strengths Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Tax Haven in Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens Harvard Business Review case study are -

Strong track record of project management

– Tax Haven is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Diverse revenue streams

– Tax Haven is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Tax Haven in the sector have low bargaining power. Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Tax Haven to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Analytics focus

– Tax Haven 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 Mihir A. Desai, Mark F. Veblen, James R. Hines Jr. 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.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Tax Haven has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Tax Haven 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.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Tax Haven 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Tax Haven 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Tax Haven in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Tax Haven 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 Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Innovation driven organization

– Tax Haven is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens 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.

Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Tax Haven digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Tax Haven 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.






Weaknesses Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens are -

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens 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 Tax Haven has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Tax Haven is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens 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, Tax Haven 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 decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Tax Haven 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. Tax Haven 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens, is just above the industry average. Tax Haven needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.

Lack of clear differentiation of Tax Haven products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Tax Haven 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 Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens, in the dynamic environment Tax Haven has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Tax Haven has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

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 Tax Haven supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Tax Haven vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Tax Haven 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 cash cycle compare to competitors

Tax Haven 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.

Need for greater diversity

– Tax Haven 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.




Opportunities Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens | 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 Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens are -

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Tax Haven has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Tax Haven to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens case study. Tax Haven can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Tax Haven in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

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. Tax Haven can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Tax Haven 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.

Buying journey improvements

– Tax Haven can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Tax Haven 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Tax Haven 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Tax Haven 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 Tax Haven to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Tax Haven can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

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 Tax Haven in the consumer business. Now Tax Haven can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Tax Haven 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, Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Tax Haven 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 Finance & Accounting segment.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Tax Haven 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 Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Tax Haven to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.




Threats Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens are -

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Tax Haven 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

– Tax Haven 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

– Tax Haven 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.

Increasing wage structure of Tax Haven

– 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 Tax Haven.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Tax Haven has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Tax Haven needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting 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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Tax Haven in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Tax Haven 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 Tax Haven.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Tax Haven is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens, Tax Haven may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .

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 Tax Haven 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. Tax Haven 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.

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 Tax Haven in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens 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 Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens 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 Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens 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 Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens 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 Corporate Inversions: Stanley Works and the Lure of Tax Havens 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 Tax Haven needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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