Case Study Description of Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy
This case addresses the new opportunities and challenges in design and marketing to customers who are elderly or have disabilities. A product manager learns that Leviton's wall switches are favored over less expensive competitive products by homeowners with limited vision or dexterity. With the help of a federal center on disability research, she convinces her managers to develop a marketing program to promote these features to this large and growing market segment. Leviton's in-house marketing department prepares a promotional campaign modeled on a previous successful niche marketing program. The research center staff warns that treating elders and people with disabilities as a niche market will cause the program to fail. They recommend emphasis on the "universal design" appeal of Leviton's products to children as well as elders, able-bodied as well as disabled. The product manager must choose a direction for the program based on either the research center's experience with this new market or her own company's marketing expertise.
Swot Analysis of "Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy" written by Cynthia A. Ingols, James L. Mueller includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Leviton's Elders facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Product development, Social responsibility and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Leviton's Elders, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Leviton's Elders 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 Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Leviton's Elders
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 Leviton's Elders
Strengths Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Leviton's Elders in Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Leviton's Elders has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Leviton's Elders in the sector have low bargaining power. Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Leviton's Elders to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Leviton's Elders to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Leviton's Elders to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Leviton's Elders is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy 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.
Analytics focus
– Leviton's Elders 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 Cynthia A. Ingols, James L. Mueller 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Leviton's Elders is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Leviton's Elders 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 Leviton's Elders is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Leviton's Elders digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Leviton's Elders 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.
High brand equity
– Leviton's Elders has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Leviton's Elders to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Leviton's Elders 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.
Organizational Resilience of Leviton's Elders
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Leviton's Elders does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Leviton's Elders 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.
Weaknesses Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Leviton's Elders 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. Leviton's Elders 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Leviton's Elders 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Leviton's Elders 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy 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 Leviton's Elders has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Leviton's Elders is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy, in the dynamic environment Leviton's Elders has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Leviton's Elders has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Leviton's Elders 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Leviton's Elders, firm in the HBR case study Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy, it seems that the employees of Leviton's Elders 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Leviton's Elders 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy, is just above the industry average. Leviton's Elders 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.
Opportunities Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy | 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 Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Leviton's Elders is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Leviton's Elders has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Leviton's Elders to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy case study. Leviton's Elders can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Leviton's Elders 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 Leviton's Elders to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Leviton's Elders can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Leviton's Elders 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 Leviton's Elders 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Leviton's Elders can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy 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 Leviton's Elders 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Leviton's Elders 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 Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Leviton's Elders to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Leviton's Elders 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. Leviton's Elders 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Leviton's Elders 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Leviton's Elders 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.
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. Leviton's Elders can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Leviton's Elders 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.
Threats Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy are -
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 Leviton's Elders business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Leviton's Elders has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Leviton's Elders 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
– Leviton's Elders 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. Leviton's Elders can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Increasing wage structure of Leviton's Elders
– 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 Leviton's Elders.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Leviton's Elders 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Leviton's Elders 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Leviton's Elders 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 Leviton's Elders 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 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Leviton's Elders 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Leviton's Elders with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Leviton's Elders 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 Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Leviton's Elders 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy 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 Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy 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 Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy 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 Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy 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 Leviton Manufacturing Co., Inc.: Universal Design Marketing Strategy 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 Leviton's Elders needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.