Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B)
Supplements the (A) case. To maximize their effectiveness, color cases should be printed in color.An abstract is not available for this product. Includes color exhibits.
Swot Analysis of "Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B)" written by Gail McGovern includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Grafica Lottery facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Negotiations and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Grafica Lottery, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Grafica Lottery 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 Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Grafica Lottery
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 Grafica Lottery
Strengths Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Grafica Lottery in Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Grafica Lottery
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Grafica Lottery does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Grafica Lottery 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 Grafica Lottery is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Grafica Lottery is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Grafica Lottery has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Grafica Lottery has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Grafica Lottery 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 Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) 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 Grafica Lottery 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Grafica Lottery to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Grafica Lottery to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Grafica Lottery is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Grafica Lottery digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Grafica Lottery 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
– Grafica Lottery 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 Gail McGovern 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Grafica Lottery 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 Grafica Lottery in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) 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.
Weaknesses Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Grafica Lottery 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 Grafica Lottery, firm in the HBR case study Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Grafica Lottery is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Grafica Lottery needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Grafica Lottery to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) HBR case study mentions - Grafica Lottery 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Grafica Lottery is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
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 Grafica Lottery supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Grafica Lottery vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Grafica Lottery 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 - Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Grafica Lottery 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Grafica Lottery 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Grafica Lottery 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B), in the dynamic environment Grafica Lottery has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Grafica Lottery has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) | 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 Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) are -
Manufacturing automation
– Grafica Lottery 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Grafica Lottery 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Grafica Lottery 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Grafica Lottery 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 Grafica Lottery to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Grafica Lottery can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Grafica Lottery is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Grafica Lottery 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.
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. Grafica Lottery 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. Grafica Lottery 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Grafica Lottery 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, Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B), 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
– Grafica Lottery can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) 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 Grafica Lottery 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Grafica Lottery 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Grafica Lottery can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Grafica Lottery operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Threats Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Grafica Lottery 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Grafica Lottery 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 Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Grafica Lottery is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Grafica Lottery.
Regulatory challenges
– Grafica Lottery 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.
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. Grafica Lottery can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Grafica Lottery 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. Grafica Lottery can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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. Grafica Lottery 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Grafica Lottery 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B), Grafica Lottery 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 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Grafica Lottery has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Grafica Lottery 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 Grafica Lottery in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Grafica Lottery business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) 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 Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) 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 Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) 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 Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) 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 Grafica, Inc.: Winning the New Jersey Lottery (B) 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 Grafica Lottery needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
