Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed
The case describes Procter & Gamble's adoption of value pricing, Wal-Mart's introduction of premium store brands, and the evolution of Wal-Mart's relations with its major vendors. In early 1994, Kimberly-Clark agreed to manufacture private-label training pants for Wal-Mart. Students must decide how Procter & Gamble should respond to Wal-Mart's decision to sell private-label diapers manufactured by Kimberly-Clark.
Authors :: Paul W. Farris, Mark Parry, Richard Johnson
Swot Analysis of "Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed" written by Paul W. Farris, Mark Parry, Richard Johnson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Wal Mart's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Pricing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, technology disruption,
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, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Wal Mart's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Wal Mart's 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 Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Wal Mart's
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 Wal Mart's
Strengths Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Wal Mart's in Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Wal Mart's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Wal Mart's 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.
Learning organization
- Wal Mart's 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 Wal Mart's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Wal Mart's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed 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
– Wal Mart's 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 Wal Mart's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Wal Mart's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Wal Mart's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Wal Mart's 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 Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Wal Mart's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Wal Mart's 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 recruit top talent
– Wal Mart's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed 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.
Analytics focus
– Wal Mart's 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 Paul W. Farris, Mark Parry, Richard Johnson 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Wal Mart's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Wal Mart's 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed, in the dynamic environment Wal Mart's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Wal Mart's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Paul W. Farris, Mark Parry, Richard Johnson suggests that, Wal Mart's 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Wal Mart's 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. Wal Mart's 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed 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 Wal Mart's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Wal Mart's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Wal Mart's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Wal Mart's, firm in the HBR case study Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Wal Mart's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed, 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Wal Mart's 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 - Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Wal Mart's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Wal Mart's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Wal Mart's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed | 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 Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed are -
Loyalty marketing
– Wal Mart's 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Wal Mart's 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.
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 Wal Mart's in the consumer business. Now Wal Mart's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Wal Mart's 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Wal Mart's 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.
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 Wal Mart's 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 Wal Mart's 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Wal Mart's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Wal Mart's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed case study. Wal Mart's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Wal Mart's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Wal Mart's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Wal Mart's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Wal Mart's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Wal Mart's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Wal Mart's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Threats Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed are -
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 Wal Mart's in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Wal Mart's 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Wal Mart's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Wal Mart's 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.
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.
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 Wal Mart's.
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. Wal Mart's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Wal Mart's 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Wal Mart's 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 Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Wal Mart's 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.
Increasing wage structure of Wal Mart's
– 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 Wal Mart's.
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. Wal Mart's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Wal Mart's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Wal Mart's 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed 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 Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed 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 Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed 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 Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed 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 Procter & Gamble, Private-Label Brands, and the Wal-Mart Partnership (A) Condensed 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 Wal Mart's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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