Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives
Focuses on the compensation plan for Fieldcrest sales representatives. Management is reviewing the structure of the plan and must decide how to establish compensation goals and guidelines for the following year so that sales efforts are allocated among products and/or accounts in the best manner. Provides information about the industry, the competitive environment, recent market developments, and the details of the compensation plan as well as comments by managers and salespeople.
Swot Analysis of "Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives" written by Frank V. Cespedes includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Fieldcrest Compensation facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Sales and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Fieldcrest Compensation, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Fieldcrest Compensation 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 Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Fieldcrest Compensation
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 Fieldcrest Compensation
Strengths Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Fieldcrest Compensation in Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Fieldcrest Compensation 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 Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives - 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
– Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Fieldcrest Compensation to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Fieldcrest Compensation to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Fieldcrest Compensation in the sector have low bargaining power. Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Fieldcrest Compensation to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Fieldcrest Compensation is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Fieldcrest Compensation 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 Fieldcrest Compensation is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Fieldcrest Compensation is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Fieldcrest Compensation has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Fieldcrest Compensation is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
Training and development
– Fieldcrest Compensation has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Fieldcrest Compensation 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 Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Frank V. Cespedes suggests that, Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Fieldcrest Compensation 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 - Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Fieldcrest Compensation products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Fieldcrest Compensation needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives, is just above the industry average. Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives, it seems that the employees of Fieldcrest Compensation don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Fieldcrest Compensation is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives 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 Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Fieldcrest Compensation is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Fieldcrest Compensation, firm in the HBR case study Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives 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 Fieldcrest Compensation 's lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
Opportunities Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives | 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 Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Fieldcrest Compensation 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 Fieldcrest Compensation to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
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. Fieldcrest Compensation 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. Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Fieldcrest Compensation has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Fieldcrest Compensation to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives case study. Fieldcrest Compensation can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Fieldcrest Compensation can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Fieldcrest Compensation can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Fieldcrest Compensation operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
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. Fieldcrest Compensation can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
Threats Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives are -
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. Fieldcrest Compensation can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Fieldcrest Compensation business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
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 Fieldcrest Compensation.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Fieldcrest Compensation is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives, Fieldcrest Compensation 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 .
Environmental challenges
– Fieldcrest Compensation 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. Fieldcrest Compensation can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Fieldcrest Compensation has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Fieldcrest Compensation 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.
Increasing wage structure of Fieldcrest Compensation
– 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 Fieldcrest Compensation.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives 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 Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives 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 Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives 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 Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives 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 Fieldcrest Division of Fieldcrest Mills, Inc.: Compensation System for Field Sales Representatives 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 Fieldcrest Compensation needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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