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Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic


This is a Thunderbird Case Study.Wal-Mart is at a crossroads. Its positioning as the world's largest, low-price retail leader is being undermined by higher operating costs and slower sales growth. The solution, according to President and CEO Lee Scott, is to get middle-class consumers who shop the store selectively for grocery and personal care items "to cross the aisle" for higher-margin fashion goods. But Wal-Mart's attempts at entering Cheap Chic-the fashion category dominated by competitors such as Target and H&M-have been undermined by strategic decision focused on operational efficiencies and a lack of understanding of branding nuances.

Authors :: Lauranne Buchanan

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

Tags :: , SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic" written by Lauranne Buchanan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Chic Undermined facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Chic Undermined, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Chic Undermined 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 Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Chic Undermined
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 Chic Undermined




Strengths Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Chic Undermined in Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic Harvard Business Review case study are -

Analytics focus

– Chic Undermined 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 Lauranne Buchanan 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.

Organizational Resilience of Chic Undermined

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Chic Undermined does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry

– Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Chic Undermined to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Chic Undermined to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

High brand equity

– Chic Undermined has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Chic Undermined to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Learning organization

- Chic Undermined 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 Chic Undermined is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Diverse revenue streams

– Chic Undermined is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic 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.

Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field

– Chic Undermined 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 Chic Undermined in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Innovation driven organization

– Chic Undermined is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Chic Undermined 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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Chic Undermined is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Chic Undermined in the sector have low bargaining power. Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Chic Undermined to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.






Weaknesses Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic are -

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Chic Undermined 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.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Chic Undermined is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Chic Undermined is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Chic Undermined needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Chic Undermined to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Need for greater diversity

– Chic Undermined has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic HBR case study mentions - Chic Undermined 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.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic, it seems that the employees of Chic Undermined 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.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Chic Undermined 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Chic Undermined 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 - Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic 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 Chic Undermined 's lucrative customers.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic 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 Chic Undermined has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Lauranne Buchanan suggests that, Chic Undermined 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.




Opportunities Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic | 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 Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic are -

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. Chic Undermined 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. Chic Undermined 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Chic Undermined 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 Chic Undermined to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Chic Undermined 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.

Manufacturing automation

– Chic Undermined 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Chic Undermined 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Chic Undermined has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Chic Undermined to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic case study. Chic Undermined can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Chic Undermined 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Chic Undermined to increase its market reach. Chic Undermined 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.

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. Chic Undermined can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Loyalty marketing

– Chic Undermined 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Chic Undermined 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, Chic Undermined 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Chic Undermined can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.




Threats Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic 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 level of anxiety and lack of motivation

– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Chic Undermined needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic, Chic Undermined 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 .

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Chic Undermined with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

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. Chic Undermined can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Chic Undermined is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Chic Undermined 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 Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic .

Increasing wage structure of Chic Undermined

– 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 Chic Undermined.

Regulatory challenges

– Chic Undermined 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. Chic Undermined 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.

Environmental challenges

– Chic Undermined 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. Chic Undermined can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Chic Undermined 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.

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 Chic Undermined in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic 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 Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic 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 Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic 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 Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic 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 Wal-Mart Tries on Cheap Chic 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 Chic Undermined needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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