Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads
In June 2008, the president and owner of Canada Goose Inc. (Canada Goose), a producer of luxury sport jackets, was contemplating the future of his company. Despite recent years' steady growth in both his company and the industry in general, the president believed that a significant opportunity existed for Canada Goose to further cement itself as a market leader for this industry. The president was intrigued by two separate offers from national retailers in Canada. Both were in the form of long-term contracts; in the past Canada Goose had used such contracts to maintain successful relationships with its many distributors. The offers were lucrative; however, the president needed to consider whether the offers aligned with the company's current marketing strategy. Agreeing to stock its product through a national chain would be a departure from its current method of distribution through independently-owned regional retailers. Accepting either of the offers would not only potentially price these retailers out of the market but could also lead to the devaluation of the brand.
Swot Analysis of "Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads" written by June Cotte, Jesse Silvertown includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Goose Canada facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads casestudy better are - – technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Goose Canada, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Goose Canada 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 Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Goose Canada
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 Goose Canada
Strengths Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Goose Canada in Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Goose Canada is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Goose Canada 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 Goose Canada in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Goose Canada is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Goose Canada 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 Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Goose Canada 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 June Cotte, Jesse Silvertown 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.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Goose Canada digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Goose Canada 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.
Training and development
– Goose Canada has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Goose Canada to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Goose Canada to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Goose Canada in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Goose Canada has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Goose Canada to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Goose Canada 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 Goose Canada is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Goose Canada, firm in the HBR case study Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Goose Canada has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads 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 Goose Canada 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads 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 Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Goose Canada is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Goose Canada products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Goose Canada 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, Goose Canada 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. Goose Canada 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, June Cotte, Jesse Silvertown suggests that, Goose Canada 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads, is just above the industry average. Goose Canada 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Goose Canada 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads, 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Goose Canada 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.
Opportunities Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads | 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 Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Goose Canada can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Goose Canada 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Goose Canada to increase its market reach. Goose Canada 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Goose Canada 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Goose Canada 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 Sales & Marketing segment.
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. Goose Canada 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. Goose Canada 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.
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 Goose Canada 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Goose Canada can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing 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.
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. Goose Canada 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 Goose Canada 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Goose Canada 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Goose Canada can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Goose Canada 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, Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads are -
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. Goose Canada 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Goose Canada 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Goose Canada 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.
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 Goose Canada in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Goose Canada with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Goose Canada 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. Goose Canada can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Goose Canada 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 Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads, Goose Canada 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 .
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.
Increasing wage structure of Goose Canada
– 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 Goose Canada.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Goose Canada 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.
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 Goose Canada business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads 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 Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads 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 Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads 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 Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads 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 Canada Goose Inc.: At a Retail Crossroads 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 Goose Canada needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.