Case Study Description of Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success
Visual merchandising (VM) plays an important role in hypercompetitive product categories. Though shoppers may be exposed to advertisements extolling the virtues of brands, they tend to get swayed at the point of purchase due to an attractive display or simply because of the prominence of a brand at the retail location. As such, companies must invest in processes and infrastructure to make effective VM possible. Wipro Consumer Care and Lighting is among the largest fast-moving consumer goods companies in India and has a wide range of products across different categories. One of its sales development managers must choose between several options for making certain that the company's strategic objectives are met through VM. There are four options, including two models where either the company or its channel partners manage the elements of VM, and two models where VM is outsourced to specialized agencies. All models have their pros and cons and the manager must use the available qualitative and quantitative information to compare the models across different parameters and make a choice.
Swot Analysis of "Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success" written by Sreeram Sivaramakrishnan, Gaurav Thapar, Varun Gattani, Abhra Chatterjee includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Vm Wipro facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Vm Wipro, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Vm Wipro 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 Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Vm Wipro
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 Vm Wipro
Strengths Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Vm Wipro in Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Vm Wipro in the sector have low bargaining power. Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Vm Wipro to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Vm Wipro 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 Vm Wipro in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Vm Wipro 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 Vm Wipro digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Vm Wipro 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
– Vm Wipro 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 Sreeram Sivaramakrishnan, Gaurav Thapar, Varun Gattani, Abhra Chatterjee 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Vm Wipro 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 Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Vm Wipro is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Vm Wipro is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success 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.
Organizational Resilience of Vm Wipro
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Vm Wipro does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Vm Wipro 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 Vm Wipro is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Vm Wipro to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Vm Wipro to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success 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 Vm Wipro 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success 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 Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Vm Wipro is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Vm Wipro supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Vm Wipro vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Vm Wipro, firm in the HBR case study Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success 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 Vm Wipro has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success, is just above the industry average. Vm Wipro 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Vm Wipro 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 - Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Vm Wipro 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Vm Wipro is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Vm Wipro needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Vm Wipro to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Vm Wipro 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. Vm Wipro 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success, it seems that the employees of Vm Wipro 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.
Opportunities Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success | 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 Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Vm Wipro can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Vm Wipro operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
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 Vm Wipro 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, Vm Wipro is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success 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.
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. Vm Wipro can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Vm Wipro 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Vm Wipro in the consumer business. Now Vm Wipro can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Vm Wipro 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 Vm Wipro to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Vm Wipro 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Vm Wipro has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Vm Wipro 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Vm Wipro 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Vm Wipro has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Vm Wipro to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success case study. Vm Wipro can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Vm Wipro 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.
Threats Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success 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
– Vm Wipro 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Vm Wipro 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.
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. Vm Wipro 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.
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 Vm Wipro.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Vm Wipro with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Vm Wipro has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Vm Wipro 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.
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. Vm Wipro can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Vm Wipro 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.
Environmental challenges
– Vm Wipro 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. Vm Wipro 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 Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success, Vm Wipro 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 Vm Wipro 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, Vm Wipro 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 Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success 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 Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success 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 Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success 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 Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success 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 Wipro Consumer Care: Merchandising for Success 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 Vm Wipro needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
