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BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement


Supplements the (A) case.

Authors :: Richard G. Hamermesh

Topics :: Strategy & Execution

Tags :: Marketing, Strategic planning, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement" written by Richard G. Hamermesh includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bic Pen facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Strategic planning and Strategy & Execution.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bic Pen, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bic Pen 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 BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bic Pen
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 Bic Pen




Strengths BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Bic Pen in BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement Harvard Business Review case study are -

Training and development

– Bic Pen has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement 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.

High brand equity

– Bic Pen has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bic Pen to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Analytics focus

– Bic Pen 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 Richard G. Hamermesh 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.

Learning organization

- Bic Pen 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 Bic Pen is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Diverse revenue streams

– Bic Pen is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement 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.

Innovation driven organization

– Bic Pen is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry

– BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bic Pen to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bic Pen to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement 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.

Organizational Resilience of Bic Pen

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bic Pen does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Bic Pen is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Bic Pen in the sector have low bargaining power. BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bic Pen 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 Bic Pen digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bic Pen 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.






Weaknesses BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement are -

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Bic Pen is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Bic Pen needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bic Pen to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Bic Pen 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.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Bic Pen 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.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement, 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.

Need for greater diversity

– Bic Pen 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement, is just above the industry average. Bic Pen 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 dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement 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 Bic Pen has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bic Pen is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement 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 BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bic Pen is planning to shift buying processes online.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Bic Pen 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.

Lack of clear differentiation of Bic Pen products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Bic Pen needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.




Opportunities BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement | 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 BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement are -

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Bic Pen 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 Bic Pen to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Loyalty marketing

– Bic Pen 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Bic Pen 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Bic Pen 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, Bic Pen can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Bic Pen operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Bic Pen has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bic Pen to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement case study. Bic Pen can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Bic Pen is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bic Pen 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, BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement, 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 Bic Pen to increase its market reach. Bic Pen 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.

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 Bic Pen 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Bic Pen 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Bic Pen 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 BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bic Pen to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bic Pen 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.




Threats BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement are -

Increasing wage structure of Bic Pen

– 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 Bic Pen.

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. Bic Pen can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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. Bic Pen 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.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Bic Pen 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.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Bic Pen 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.

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 Bic Pen.

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 Bic Pen 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 BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement, Bic Pen 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 .

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.

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. Bic Pen needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Regulatory challenges

– Bic Pen 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.

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 Bic Pen in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement 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 BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement 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 BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement 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 BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement 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 BiC Pen Corp. (A), Supplement 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 Bic Pen needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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