Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants
This case presents the challenging situation facing Jonathan Wiley, a fresh MBA graduate who has recently been appointed regional sales manager (RSM) of the Northern Ontario sales region of the Canadian subsidiary of Garrick Oil and Lubricants (GOAL). Wiley has to make a decision regarding the allocation of geographical territories to four territory sales managers who report directly to him.
Swot Analysis of "Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants" written by Asad Aman, Claudio Pousa includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Garrick Wiley facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Manufacturing, Marketing, Motivating people, Sales and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Garrick Wiley, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Garrick Wiley 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 Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Garrick Wiley
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 Garrick Wiley
Strengths Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Garrick Wiley in Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Garrick Wiley 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 Garrick Wiley in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– Garrick Wiley has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Garrick Wiley 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 Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Garrick Wiley 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Garrick Wiley 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 Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Garrick Wiley 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.
High brand equity
– Garrick Wiley has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Garrick Wiley to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Garrick Wiley in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Garrick Wiley to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Garrick Wiley to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Garrick Wiley is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Garrick Wiley
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Garrick Wiley does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants 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 Garrick Wiley has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants, in the dynamic environment Garrick Wiley has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Garrick Wiley has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Garrick Wiley 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 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 Garrick Wiley supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Garrick Wiley vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Asad Aman, Claudio Pousa suggests that, Garrick Wiley 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Garrick Wiley 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants 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 Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Garrick Wiley is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants, it seems that the employees of Garrick Wiley 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Garrick Wiley 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. Garrick Wiley 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Garrick Wiley is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Garrick Wiley needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Garrick Wiley to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Opportunities Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants | 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 Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Garrick Wiley can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Garrick Wiley can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Garrick Wiley can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Garrick Wiley 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.
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. Garrick Wiley can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Garrick Wiley 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 Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Garrick Wiley to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Garrick Wiley 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Garrick Wiley 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.
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. Garrick Wiley can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Garrick Wiley 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 Garrick Wiley has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Garrick Wiley to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants case study. Garrick Wiley can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Garrick Wiley to increase its market reach. Garrick Wiley 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Garrick Wiley 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 Garrick Wiley to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants are -
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Garrick Wiley 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 Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Garrick Wiley 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.
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. Garrick Wiley can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Garrick Wiley
– 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 Garrick Wiley.
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 Garrick Wiley business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Garrick Wiley has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Garrick Wiley 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.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Garrick Wiley in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Garrick Wiley 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Garrick Wiley 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.
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 Garrick Wiley.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Garrick Wiley 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants 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 Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants 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 Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants 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 Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants 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 Realigning Sales Territories at Garrick Oil and Lubricants 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 Garrick Wiley needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
