Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis
The introduction of a new class of persistent herbicides is anticipated by DuPont as a game-changer for the firm and its customers. Instead, the product creates unforeseen damage to vegetation. The mobilization of the customer base soon extends to the general public and regulators, leading to withdrawal of the product and ultimately the sale of the DuPont business unit concerned.
Authors :: Luk Van Wassenhove, Mark Hunter, Maria Besiou
Swot Analysis of "Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis" written by Luk Van Wassenhove, Mark Hunter, Maria Besiou includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Dupont Herbicides facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Sustainability and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Dupont Herbicides, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Dupont Herbicides 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 Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Dupont Herbicides
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 Dupont Herbicides
Strengths Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Dupont Herbicides in Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Dupont Herbicides
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Dupont Herbicides does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Dupont Herbicides to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Dupont Herbicides to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Dupont Herbicides 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 Dupont Herbicides is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Dupont Herbicides digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Dupont Herbicides 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Dupont Herbicides in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Dupont Herbicides is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis 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.
Training and development
– Dupont Herbicides has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Dupont Herbicides has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Dupont Herbicides 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Dupont Herbicides 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Dupont Herbicides 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Dupont Herbicides is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Dupont Herbicides 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 Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Dupont Herbicides 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 - Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Dupont Herbicides, firm in the HBR case study Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis 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 Dupont Herbicides 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Dupont Herbicides 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, Dupont Herbicides is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis 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 Dupont Herbicides supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Dupont Herbicides vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Luk Van Wassenhove, Mark Hunter, Maria Besiou suggests that, Dupont Herbicides 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Dupont Herbicides 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Dupont Herbicides is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Dupont Herbicides needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Dupont Herbicides to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis, is just above the industry average. Dupont Herbicides 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Dupont Herbicides 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.
Opportunities Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis | 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 Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Dupont Herbicides can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Dupont Herbicides 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Dupont Herbicides can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Dupont Herbicides operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Dupont Herbicides can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Dupont Herbicides 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 Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Dupont Herbicides to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Dupont Herbicides 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, Dupont Herbicides 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Dupont Herbicides 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Dupont Herbicides 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Dupont Herbicides 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, Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Dupont Herbicides to increase its market reach. Dupont Herbicides 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Dupont Herbicides 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 Dupont Herbicides in the consumer business. Now Dupont Herbicides can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis are -
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.
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 Dupont Herbicides business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Dupont Herbicides 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. Dupont Herbicides can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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. Dupont Herbicides needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Dupont Herbicides in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Dupont Herbicides can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Dupont Herbicides is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Dupont Herbicides
– 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 Dupont Herbicides.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Dupont Herbicides has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Dupont Herbicides 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.
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 Dupont Herbicides.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Dupont Herbicides 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Dupont Herbicides 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis 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 Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis 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 Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis 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 Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis 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 Lawnsite.com vs. DuPont (C): After the Crisis 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 Dupont Herbicides needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.