Case Study Description of Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986
Peter Baldwin takes over Clabough's job and is charged with the responsibility to improve sales force morale, control expenses, and improve market share.
Swot Analysis of "Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986" written by V. Kasturi Rangan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Clabough's Baldwin facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Product development, Sales and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Clabough's Baldwin, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Clabough's Baldwin 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 Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Clabough's Baldwin
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 Clabough's Baldwin
Strengths Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Clabough's Baldwin in Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Clabough's Baldwin is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Clabough's Baldwin 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Clabough's Baldwin 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 Clabough's Baldwin in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Clabough's Baldwin digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Clabough's Baldwin 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Clabough's Baldwin is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Clabough's Baldwin to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Clabough's Baldwin to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Clabough's Baldwin has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Clabough's Baldwin 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.
Training and development
– Clabough's Baldwin has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Clabough's Baldwin is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 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.
High brand equity
– Clabough's Baldwin has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Clabough's Baldwin to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Clabough's Baldwin 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 Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 HBR case study mentions - Clabough's Baldwin 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Clabough's Baldwin is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Clabough's Baldwin needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Clabough's Baldwin to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986, in the dynamic environment Clabough's Baldwin has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Clabough's Baldwin has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Clabough's Baldwin 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Clabough's Baldwin 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Clabough's Baldwin 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986, 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 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 Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Clabough's Baldwin is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Clabough's Baldwin, firm in the HBR case study Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 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 Clabough's Baldwin has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986, it seems that the employees of Clabough's Baldwin don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Opportunities Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 | 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 Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Clabough's Baldwin can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Clabough's Baldwin 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Clabough's Baldwin 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Clabough's Baldwin to increase its market reach. Clabough's Baldwin 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Clabough's Baldwin can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 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, Clabough's Baldwin 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Clabough's Baldwin in the consumer business. Now Clabough's Baldwin can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Clabough's Baldwin 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. Clabough's Baldwin 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.
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. Clabough's Baldwin can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Clabough's Baldwin 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 Clabough's Baldwin to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Clabough's Baldwin 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Clabough's Baldwin 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 Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Clabough's Baldwin to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Clabough's Baldwin has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Clabough's Baldwin to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 case study. Clabough's Baldwin can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Clabough's Baldwin has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Clabough's Baldwin 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Clabough's Baldwin 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Clabough's Baldwin 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.
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. Clabough's Baldwin needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Clabough's Baldwin 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Clabough's Baldwin 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Clabough's Baldwin is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Clabough's Baldwin with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Clabough's Baldwin business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986, Clabough's Baldwin 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 .
Environmental challenges
– Clabough's Baldwin 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. Clabough's Baldwin can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Clabough's Baldwin 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 Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 .
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 Clabough's Baldwin in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 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 Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 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 Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 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 Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 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 Ingersoll-Rand (B): Managing Multiple Channels--1986 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 Clabough's Baldwin needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
