Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market
Executives at Black & Decker Corp. challenge managers to design and develop a cordless electric power drill for professionals that will enhance its reputation among that group of users and significantly lift the company's share of that market. Moreover, the new product must have a platform that, with modest changes, will suit both the North American and European markets. Like many such projects, the time line is short. The management challenge is to put together an international team and develop strategies for defining competitive opportunities, refining program objectives, ensuring effective communication, and keeping people focused. Designers--including engineers and product designers--must overcome a series of technical challenges related to the power the drill will deliver, battery location, and ergonomics. Models are a key design tool in the development process and are used to test consumer reactions in both North America and Europe.
Swot Analysis of "Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market" written by Thomas Walton includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Drill Cordless facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leading teams, Marketing, Product development, Project management and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Drill Cordless, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Drill Cordless 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 Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Drill Cordless
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 Drill Cordless
Strengths Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Drill Cordless in Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Drill Cordless 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 Drill Cordless is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Drill Cordless 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.
Training and development
– Drill Cordless has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Drill Cordless is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Drill Cordless digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Drill Cordless 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Drill Cordless 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 Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Drill Cordless has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Drill Cordless to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Drill Cordless to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Drill Cordless to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Drill Cordless has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Drill Cordless is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Drill Cordless in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Drill Cordless 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 Thomas Walton 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.
Weaknesses Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Thomas Walton suggests that, Drill Cordless 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market, is just above the industry average. Drill Cordless 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Drill Cordless products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Drill Cordless needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market HBR case study mentions - Drill Cordless 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market, it seems that the employees of Drill Cordless 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market 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 Drill Cordless 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market 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 Drill Cordless has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Drill Cordless 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, Drill Cordless 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. Drill Cordless 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Drill Cordless is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Drill Cordless 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 - Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market | 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 Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market are -
Buying journey improvements
– Drill Cordless can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Drill Cordless 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Drill Cordless 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Drill Cordless to increase its market reach. Drill Cordless 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 Drill Cordless 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.
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. Drill Cordless can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Drill Cordless 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Drill Cordless can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Drill Cordless can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Drill Cordless to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Drill Cordless 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.
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 Drill Cordless in the consumer business. Now Drill Cordless can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Drill Cordless has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Drill Cordless to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market case study. Drill Cordless 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, Drill Cordless 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.
Threats Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Drill Cordless 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Drill Cordless has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Drill Cordless 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Drill Cordless is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Drill Cordless
– 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 Drill Cordless.
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. Drill Cordless can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Drill Cordless can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market .
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. Drill Cordless needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Drill Cordless 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.
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 Drill Cordless business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Drill Cordless 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 Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market, Drill Cordless 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 .
Environmental challenges
– Drill Cordless 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. Drill Cordless can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market 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 Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market 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 Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market 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 Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market 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 Black & Decker Corp.: Compact Power--Innovation in the Cordless Professional Drill and Driver market 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 Drill Cordless needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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