Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand
The director of marketing for Levi Strauss Canada needs to decide the fate of the GWG brand, a fallen giant in the Canadian jeans market. For the last three years, GWG has been licensed to a small manufacturer, who has failed to meet the requirements in the license agreement. Although the director wants to use some of the latent brand equity in GWG, Levi's and Dockers brands come first and she cannot divert marketing dollars toward the brand's revival. Also, she must be careful to manage her small but powerful portfolio of brands in the five main channels without cannibalizing the already declining volumes of the Levi's brand.
Authors :: Michael R. Pearce, Ken Mark, Jordan Mitchell
Swot Analysis of "Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand" written by Michael R. Pearce, Ken Mark, Jordan Mitchell includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Gwg Levi's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Intellectual property and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Gwg Levi's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Gwg Levi's 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 Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Gwg Levi's
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Gwg Levi's
Strengths Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Gwg Levi's in Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Gwg Levi's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Gwg Levi's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Gwg Levi's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Gwg Levi's 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 Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Gwg Levi's in the sector have low bargaining power. Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Gwg Levi's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Gwg Levi's 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 Gwg Levi's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Gwg Levi's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Gwg Levi's 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 Gwg Levi's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Gwg Levi's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Gwg Levi's 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Gwg Levi's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Gwg Levi's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Gwg Levi's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Gwg Levi's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Gwg Levi's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Gwg Levi's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Gwg Levi's has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Gwg Levi's 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand 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 Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Gwg Levi's is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Gwg Levi's 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. Gwg Levi's 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand HBR case study mentions - Gwg Levi's 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Michael R. Pearce, Ken Mark, Jordan Mitchell suggests that, Gwg Levi's 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand, it seems that the employees of Gwg Levi's 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand, is just above the industry average. Gwg Levi's 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Gwg Levi's 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 - Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Gwg Levi's needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand 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 Gwg Levi's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand | 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 Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Gwg Levi's 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. Gwg Levi's 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Gwg Levi's 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Gwg Levi's to increase its market reach. Gwg Levi's 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Gwg Levi's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Gwg Levi's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Gwg Levi's 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 Gwg Levi's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Gwg Levi's 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Gwg Levi's 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
– Gwg Levi's 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Gwg Levi's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Gwg Levi's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Gwg Levi's 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Gwg Levi's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Gwg Levi's can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing 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.
Threats Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand are -
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 Gwg Levi's.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Gwg Levi's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Gwg Levi's needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing 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.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Gwg Levi's in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing 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 Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Gwg Levi's 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 Gwg Levi's in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Gwg Levi's 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.
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. Gwg Levi's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand, Gwg Levi's may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Gwg Levi's is facing in Sales & Marketing 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, Gwg Levi's 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 Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand .
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Gwg Levi's 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 Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand 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 Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand 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 Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand 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 Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand 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 Levi Strauss Canada Holding an Ember: The GWG (R) Brand 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 Gwg Levi's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
