Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover?
In 2015, almost 60 years after being introduced to the market, the Barbie doll was one of the world's most iconic toys. However, both the industry landscape and consumer preferences were changing, and Barbie was yet again in the spotlight as consumers criticized the toy for providing a narrow and unrealistic vision of how women should look, how they should dress, and the careers they should pursue. Sales and public perception of the doll were both on the downswing. Was there a place for the Barbie doll in 2015, or was this the end of the line for the iconic doll? What could Mattel, the company behind Barbie, do to turn things around? Karen Robson is affiliated with Simon Fraser University. Stefanie Beninger is affiliated with Simon Fraser Univ/Beedie School of Bus.
Authors :: Karen Robson, Stefanie Beninger
Topics :: Sales & Marketing
Tags :: Gender, Public relations, Social platforms, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover?" written by Karen Robson, Stefanie Beninger includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Barbie Doll facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Gender, Public relations, Social platforms and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Barbie Doll, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Barbie Doll 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 Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Barbie Doll
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 Barbie Doll
Strengths Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Barbie Doll in Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Barbie Doll 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 Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Barbie Doll has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Barbie Doll to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Barbie Doll is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Barbie Doll in the sector have low bargaining power. Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Barbie Doll to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Barbie Doll digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Barbie Doll 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.
Analytics focus
– Barbie Doll 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 Karen Robson, Stefanie Beninger 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Barbie Doll 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 Barbie Doll in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Barbie Doll to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Barbie Doll to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Barbie Doll is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Barbie Doll is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Barbie Doll has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Barbie Doll 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Barbie Doll in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Barbie Doll products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Barbie Doll needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? HBR case study mentions - Barbie Doll 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Barbie Doll has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Barbie Doll is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Barbie Doll, firm in the HBR case study Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover?, is just above the industry average. Barbie Doll 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? 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 Barbie Doll 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Barbie Doll 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? 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 Barbie Doll has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Barbie Doll supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Barbie Doll vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Barbie Doll 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 Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? | 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 Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Barbie Doll 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, Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Barbie Doll in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Buying journey improvements
– Barbie Doll can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Barbie Doll 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.
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 Barbie Doll 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Barbie Doll 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Barbie Doll has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Barbie Doll to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? case study. Barbie Doll can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Barbie Doll to increase its market reach. Barbie Doll 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Barbie Doll 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.
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. Barbie Doll can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Barbie Doll is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Barbie Doll 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 Barbie Doll can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? are -
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Barbie Doll 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.
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 Barbie Doll.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Barbie Doll with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Barbie Doll 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Barbie Doll 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.
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 Barbie Doll business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover?, Barbie Doll 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 .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Barbie Doll 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.
Environmental challenges
– Barbie Doll 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. Barbie Doll can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Increasing wage structure of Barbie Doll
– 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 Barbie Doll.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Barbie Doll has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Barbie Doll 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Barbie Doll 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 Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? 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 Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? 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 Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? 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 Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? 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 Does Mattel's Iconic Barbie Doll Need a Makeover? 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 Barbie Doll needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.