The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase
"The kitchen purchase" is a simulation of bargaining over the price of a fitted kitchen. The case study consists of a briefing for the sellers (the Hase family) and a briefing for the buyers (the Stulle family). On the basis of these briefings the course participants negotiate individually or in teams of two. The case study has been kept simple so that the negotiations can be conducted with very little preparation time needed. At the same time the case study presents a few "stumbling blocks" and permits a profound discussion on the distributive and integrative conduct of negotiations, handling bargaining power, and the ethics of bargaining. The case study is therefore especially well-suited for course participants with intermediate to advanced negotiating experience.
Swot Analysis of "The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase" written by Johannes Habel includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Briefing Hase facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Sales and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase casestudy better are - – technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Briefing Hase, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Briefing Hase 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 The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Briefing Hase
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 Briefing Hase
Strengths The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Briefing Hase in The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Briefing Hase 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 Briefing Hase in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Briefing Hase has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Briefing Hase to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Briefing Hase is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Briefing Hase 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 The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Briefing Hase to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Briefing Hase to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Briefing Hase digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Briefing Hase 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Briefing Hase in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Briefing Hase is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Briefing Hase 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Briefing Hase is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Briefing Hase 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 The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Briefing Hase products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Briefing Hase needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Briefing Hase 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 strategic competitive environment developments
– As The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase HBR case study mentions - Briefing Hase 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase 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 Briefing Hase has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase 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 Briefing Hase 's lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Briefing Hase 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Briefing Hase 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Briefing Hase, firm in the HBR case study The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase 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 The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase, is just above the industry average. Briefing Hase 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Briefing Hase 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. Briefing Hase 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase, 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.
Opportunities The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase | 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 The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Briefing Hase 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.
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. Briefing Hase can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Briefing Hase 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 Briefing Hase to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Briefing Hase has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Briefing Hase to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase case study. Briefing Hase can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Briefing Hase 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.
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. Briefing Hase can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Briefing Hase 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, The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase, 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 Briefing Hase 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Briefing Hase 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Briefing Hase 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 The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Briefing Hase to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Briefing Hase 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Briefing Hase is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Briefing Hase to increase its market reach. Briefing Hase 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 The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Briefing Hase 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. Briefing Hase can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Briefing Hase 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.
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. Briefing Hase needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Briefing Hase is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Briefing Hase 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 Briefing Hase business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase, Briefing Hase 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 .
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 Briefing Hase in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Briefing Hase 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Briefing Hase 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Briefing Hase has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Briefing Hase 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase 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 The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase 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 The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase 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 The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase 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 The kitchen purchase: Briefing for sellers: Mr and Mrs Hase 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 Briefing Hase needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
