Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols
A.P. Nichols, a distributor of parts in the maintenance, overhaul, and repair (MRO) industry is facing the need to realign its strategy to cope to a consolidating competitive environment. A key component of their realignment involves changes the culture and compensation of their sales force while simultaneously building sufficient sales capacity to take advantage of opportunities in their key markets. The case focuses on the newly hired vice-president (VP) of sales, who is tasked with leading the change initiative. Immediate issue facing the VP include: 1) alignment of the client service representative (CSR) team to the strategy and the new model; 2) infrastructure and the need to make a commitment to invest in bringing this up to a best in class level; and 3) building a critical mass in the CSR group.
Authors :: Jeffrey Gandz, Stewart Thornhill, Ken Mark
Swot Analysis of "Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols" written by Jeffrey Gandz, Stewart Thornhill, Ken Mark includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Nichols Csr facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management, Leadership, Organizational culture, Sales, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Nichols Csr, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Nichols Csr 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 Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Nichols Csr
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 Nichols Csr
Strengths Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Nichols Csr in Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Nichols Csr in the sector have low bargaining power. Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Nichols Csr to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Nichols Csr digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Nichols Csr 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.
Learning organization
- Nichols Csr 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 Nichols Csr is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Nichols Csr has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols 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
– Nichols Csr has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Nichols Csr 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.
Analytics focus
– Nichols Csr 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 Jeffrey Gandz, Stewart Thornhill, Ken Mark 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Nichols Csr is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Nichols Csr is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Nichols Csr in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Nichols Csr is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Nichols Csr 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 Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Nichols Csr needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Nichols Csr is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols 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
– Nichols Csr 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 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 Nichols Csr supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Nichols Csr vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols HBR case study mentions - Nichols Csr 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 Nichols Csr is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Nichols Csr needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Nichols Csr to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols, it seems that the employees of Nichols Csr 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Nichols Csr 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Nichols Csr 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 - Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Nichols Csr 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. Nichols Csr 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Nichols Csr products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Nichols Csr needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols | 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 Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols are -
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. Nichols Csr can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Nichols Csr to increase its market reach. Nichols Csr 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Nichols Csr 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Nichols Csr is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols 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 Nichols Csr 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Nichols Csr 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
– Nichols Csr 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Nichols Csr 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Nichols Csr can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Nichols Csr 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Nichols Csr 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, Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Nichols Csr can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Nichols Csr operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Nichols Csr 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.
Threats Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Nichols Csr 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.
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 Nichols Csr.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Nichols Csr will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
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. Nichols Csr can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Nichols Csr needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Nichols Csr 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. Nichols Csr can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Nichols Csr has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Nichols Csr 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Nichols Csr with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols, Nichols Csr 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 .
Increasing wage structure of Nichols Csr
– 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 Nichols Csr.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Nichols Csr 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.
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.
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 Nichols Csr in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols 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 Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols 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 Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols 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 Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols 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 Aligning Culture and Strategy at A. P. Nichols 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 Nichols Csr needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.