Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation
Paul Frank Industries (PFI), a privately held company based in the United States, finds itself in hot water after social media criticizes a Hollywood marketing event hosted by PFI in which Native American stereotypes were prominently featured. When photos of the event are released on Facebook, two bloggers bring attention to the event through their social media channels, and the reaction quickly spreads throughout the Native American community and beyond. In the wake of this public relations nightmare, students are asked to reflect on the actions taken by Paul Frank Industries prior to, during and after the marketing event. Stefanie Beninger and June N.P. Francis are affiliated with Simon Fraser University.
Authors :: Stefanie Beninger, June N.P. Francis
Topics :: Sales & Marketing
Tags :: Public relations, Social platforms, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation" written by Stefanie Beninger, June N.P. Francis includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Event Native facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Public relations, Social platforms and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
wage bills are increasing, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Event Native, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Event Native 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 Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Event Native
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 Event Native
Strengths Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Event Native in Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Event Native digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Event Native 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Event Native in the sector have low bargaining power. Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Event Native to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Event Native is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Event Native has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Event Native to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Event Native 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.
Learning organization
- Event Native 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 Event Native is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Event Native 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Event Native is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Event Native 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 Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Event Native
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Event Native does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Event Native 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 Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Event Native 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation, in the dynamic environment Event Native has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Event Native has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Event Native is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Event Native needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Event Native to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation 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 Event Native has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Event Native is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Event Native 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Event Native 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. Event Native 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 Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation 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 Event Native 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Event Native 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 - Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation, is just above the industry average. Event Native 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.
Opportunities Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation | 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 Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation are -
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. Event Native can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Event Native in the consumer business. Now Event Native can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Event Native 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Event Native can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Event Native to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Event Native 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 Event Native to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Event Native is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Event Native has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Event Native to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation case study. Event Native can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Event Native 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Event Native 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, Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Event Native 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Event Native 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 Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Event Native to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Event Native to increase its market reach. Event Native 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.
Threats Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation are -
Environmental challenges
– Event Native 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. Event Native can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Event Native 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.
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 Event Native business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Event Native 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.
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 Event Native in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Event Native 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Event Native is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Event Native has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Event Native 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.
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 Event Native.
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.
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. Event Native can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation, Event Native 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 .
Regulatory challenges
– Event Native 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 Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation 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 Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation 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 Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation 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 Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation 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 Paul Frank and Native American Stereotypes: A Case of Misappropriation 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 Event Native needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
