Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version
This case examines how Harley-Davidson has worked to globalize its business by focusing on how CEO Matt Levatich and India country manager Anoop Prakash assess and act on the opportunities and challenges posed by entering the Indian market, and where and how the lessons they learn there are applicable elsewhere both geographically and within Harley-Davidson's organization.
Swot Analysis of "Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version" written by Krishna G. Palepu, David Lane includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Harley Davidson facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Emerging markets, Globalization, Manufacturing and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
geopolitical disruptions, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Harley Davidson, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Harley Davidson 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 Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Harley Davidson
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 Harley Davidson
Strengths Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Harley Davidson in Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Harley Davidson 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 Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Harley Davidson is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Harley Davidson has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Harley Davidson to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Harley Davidson 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 Krishna G. Palepu, David Lane 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Harley Davidson is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Harley Davidson 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 Harley Davidson in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Harley Davidson in the sector have low bargaining power. Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Harley Davidson to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Harley Davidson 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Harley Davidson 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 Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Harley Davidson has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Harley Davidson has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Organizational Resilience of Harley Davidson
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Harley Davidson does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Harley Davidson in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Harley Davidson, firm in the HBR case study Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Harley Davidson 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 - Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Harley Davidson supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Harley Davidson vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Krishna G. Palepu, David Lane suggests that, Harley Davidson 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Harley Davidson products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Harley Davidson 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, Harley Davidson 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. Harley Davidson 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version 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 Harley Davidson 's lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Harley Davidson 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Harley Davidson 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version 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 Harley Davidson has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Harley Davidson is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Harley Davidson needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Harley Davidson to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version | 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 Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version are -
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Harley Davidson can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Harley Davidson 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Harley Davidson 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 Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Harley Davidson to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Harley Davidson 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Harley Davidson can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Harley Davidson operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
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 Harley Davidson in the consumer business. Now Harley Davidson can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Harley Davidson can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Harley Davidson 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, Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Harley Davidson to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Harley Davidson 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Harley Davidson 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 Harley Davidson to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Harley Davidson can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Harley Davidson has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Harley Davidson to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version case study. Harley Davidson can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Harley Davidson 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, Harley Davidson 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 Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version .
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. Harley Davidson can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Harley Davidson in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Harley Davidson needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Harley Davidson
– 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 Harley Davidson.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Harley Davidson 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version, Harley Davidson 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 .
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 Harley Davidson.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Harley Davidson is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Harley Davidson has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Harley Davidson 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Harley Davidson 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version 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 Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version 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 Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version 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 Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version 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 Harley-Davidson in India (A), Chinese Version 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 Harley Davidson needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.