Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry
The case describes the successful growth and internationalization strategy of Belgian Creyf's interim business (temporary labour services) after initial internationalization debacles, which nearly bankrupted the original family company. It describes the "not me too" strategy of this player in an industry increasingly dominated by a few large European and even world players. It subsequently raises the strategic and organisational issues the group is facing in dealing with this increasingly large and international portfolio of businesses in a market that is showing signs of the worst economic downturns in many years.
Swot Analysis of "Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry" written by Paul Verdin, Eline Van Poeck includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Creyf's Internationalization facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry casestudy better are - – technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Creyf's Internationalization, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Creyf's Internationalization 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 Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Creyf's Internationalization
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 Creyf's Internationalization
Strengths Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Creyf's Internationalization in Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Creyf's Internationalization 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 Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Creyf's Internationalization 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 Verdin, Eline Van Poeck 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Creyf's Internationalization 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Creyf's Internationalization is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Creyf's Internationalization has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Creyf's Internationalization 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Creyf's Internationalization to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Creyf's Internationalization to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Creyf's Internationalization digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Creyf's Internationalization 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Creyf's Internationalization 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Creyf's Internationalization is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry 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
– Creyf's Internationalization is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Creyf's Internationalization has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Creyf's Internationalization is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Creyf's Internationalization 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry 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 Creyf's Internationalization 's lucrative customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry HBR case study mentions - Creyf's Internationalization 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Creyf's Internationalization products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Creyf's Internationalization needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Creyf's Internationalization 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 - Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry 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 Creyf's Internationalization has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Creyf's Internationalization 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Creyf's Internationalization 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. Creyf's Internationalization 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry 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 Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Creyf's Internationalization is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry, it seems that the employees of Creyf's Internationalization don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Opportunities Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry | 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 Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Creyf's Internationalization 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.
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. Creyf's Internationalization can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Creyf's Internationalization to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Creyf's Internationalization to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Creyf's Internationalization has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Creyf's Internationalization to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry case study. Creyf's Internationalization can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Creyf's Internationalization 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Creyf's Internationalization is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Creyf's Internationalization 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 Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Creyf's Internationalization to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Creyf's Internationalization can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Creyf's Internationalization can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Creyf's Internationalization operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
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. Creyf's Internationalization can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Creyf's Internationalization can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry 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 Creyf's Internationalization can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Creyf's Internationalization 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 Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Creyf's Internationalization is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Creyf's Internationalization 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry, Creyf's Internationalization 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 .
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 Creyf's Internationalization business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Creyf's Internationalization.
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. Creyf's Internationalization needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Creyf's Internationalization 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.
Environmental challenges
– Creyf's Internationalization 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. Creyf's Internationalization can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Creyf's Internationalization 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.
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 Creyf's Internationalization in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Creyf's Internationalization 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.
Increasing wage structure of Creyf's Internationalization
– 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 Creyf's Internationalization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry 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 Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry 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 Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry 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 Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry 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 Creyf's (Solvus Resource Group): David against Goliath in the European Temping Industry 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 Creyf's Internationalization needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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