PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons
Accompanied by product #PON385.Two-party, single-issue negotiation between two neighbors regarding the potential sale of a vacant lot. The Parkers and the Gibsons own homes on adjacent plots of land. The homes are separated by a 1/2 lot the Parkers purchased years ago in hopes of building a tennis court, which they never got around to. The Parkers are now moving out of state and are interested in selling the half lot, as the buyer of their home is not interested in it. The Parkers have approached the Gibsons (who have interest in the lot for home improvements they have planned) about purchasing the lot. Neither party knows much about the other's interests. The Parkers and Gibsons are meeting to explore whether a mutually beneficial transaction is possible. This is a role play case.
Swot Analysis of "PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons" written by Program on Negotiation includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Parkers Gibsons facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Negotiations and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons casestudy better are - – technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices,
there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Parkers Gibsons, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Parkers Gibsons 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 PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Parkers Gibsons
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Parkers Gibsons
Strengths PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Parkers Gibsons in PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Parkers Gibsons is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons 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 Strategy & Execution industry
– PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Parkers Gibsons to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Parkers Gibsons to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Parkers Gibsons 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Parkers Gibsons 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 PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Parkers Gibsons 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 Parkers Gibsons in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Parkers Gibsons digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Parkers Gibsons 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Parkers Gibsons has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Parkers Gibsons is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Parkers Gibsons is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Parkers Gibsons is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Parkers Gibsons in the sector have low bargaining power. PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Parkers Gibsons to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Parkers Gibsons 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons, is just above the industry average. Parkers Gibsons needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Program on Negotiation suggests that, Parkers Gibsons 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Parkers Gibsons 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Parkers Gibsons is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Parkers Gibsons 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons 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 Parkers Gibsons 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons 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 PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Parkers Gibsons is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons 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 Parkers Gibsons has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Parkers Gibsons 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Parkers Gibsons products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Parkers Gibsons needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons | 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 PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Parkers Gibsons 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 PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Parkers Gibsons to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Parkers Gibsons can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Parkers Gibsons operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Parkers Gibsons 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Parkers Gibsons can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution 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.
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 Parkers Gibsons in the consumer business. Now Parkers Gibsons can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Parkers Gibsons can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Parkers Gibsons in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Buying journey improvements
– Parkers Gibsons can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons 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 Parkers Gibsons can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Parkers Gibsons 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Parkers Gibsons is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Parkers Gibsons 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Parkers Gibsons 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 Strategy & Execution segment.
Threats PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Parkers Gibsons in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Parkers Gibsons can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
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. Parkers Gibsons needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Parkers Gibsons 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 PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons, Parkers Gibsons may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Parkers Gibsons 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 wage structure of Parkers Gibsons
– 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 Parkers Gibsons.
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 Parkers Gibsons.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Parkers Gibsons has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Parkers Gibsons needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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 Parkers Gibsons in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Parkers Gibsons 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Parkers Gibsons 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons 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 PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons 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 PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons 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 PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons 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 PARKER - GIBSON - Confidential Instructions for the Gibsons 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 Parkers Gibsons needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
