ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time
The ICA case describes digital signage as an innovation that the ICA grocery chain might introduce throughout its Nordic region stores. It details the research methodology used to examine the effectiveness of this innovation, then poses a dilemma by noting that the three research studies present conflicting results.
Swot Analysis of "ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time" written by Anne Roggeveen, Dhruv Grewal includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ica Signage facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ica Signage, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ica Signage 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 ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ica Signage
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 Ica Signage
Strengths ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ica Signage in ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ica Signage to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ica Signage to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ica Signage has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ica Signage 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.
Learning organization
- Ica Signage 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 Ica Signage is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ica Signage 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 ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ica Signage in the sector have low bargaining power. ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ica Signage to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ica Signage has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ica Signage digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ica Signage 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.
Organizational Resilience of Ica Signage
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ica Signage does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Ica Signage 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 Ica Signage in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Ica Signage has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ica Signage to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ica Signage is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ica Signage is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Ica Signage needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ica Signage to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time HBR case study mentions - Ica Signage 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ica Signage has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Ica Signage 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time 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 ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ica Signage is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time, in the dynamic environment Ica Signage has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ica Signage has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time, is just above the industry average. Ica Signage 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 ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time 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 Ica Signage 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time 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 Ica Signage has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ica Signage 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ica Signage 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.
Opportunities ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time | 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 ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ica Signage has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ica Signage to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time case study. Ica Signage can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ica Signage 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ica Signage 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ica Signage 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ica Signage 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Ica Signage 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Ica Signage can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ica Signage to increase its market reach. Ica Signage 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.
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. Ica Signage can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ica Signage 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ica Signage is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time 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.
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 Ica Signage 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ica Signage 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 ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ica Signage to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ica Signage has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ica Signage 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.
Environmental challenges
– Ica Signage 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. Ica Signage can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time, Ica Signage 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 .
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 Ica Signage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ica Signage 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.
Increasing wage structure of Ica Signage
– 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 Ica Signage.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ica Signage with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ica Signage 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ica Signage 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 ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time .
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 Ica Signage business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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. Ica Signage 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time 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 ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time 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 ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time 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 ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time 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 ICA: Changing the Supermarket Business, One Screen at a Time 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 Ica Signage needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.