InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting
Teaching Note for Product #MH0004 Following Ray Anderson's guidance and vision, Interface, a modular carpet and commercial broadloom company, had implemented a business model focused on sustainability. The results had been not just good for the environment but also for Interface's costs and bottom line. When larger companies such as Wal-Mart came to see Interface's sustainability practices in person to learn how sustainability could benefit their companies, Anderson started InterfaceRAISE, a sustainability consulting company, and made Jim Hartzfeld Managing Director. Now faced with growing the business, Jim must consider what he will need to do to increase InterfaceRAISE's influence for sustainable business on the corporate world.
Swot Analysis of "InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting" written by Frank T. Rothaermel, Michael Janovec includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sustainability Interface's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate governance, Leadership, Organizational culture, Supply chain, Sustainability and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sustainability Interface's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sustainability Interface's 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 InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sustainability Interface's
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 Sustainability Interface's
Strengths InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sustainability Interface's in InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sustainability Interface's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sustainability Interface's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Sustainability Interface's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Sustainability Interface's 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 Sustainability Interface's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sustainability Interface's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sustainability Interface's 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Sustainability Interface's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting 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
– Sustainability Interface's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sustainability Interface's 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Sustainability Interface's 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 Sustainability Interface's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Sustainability Interface's 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Sustainability Interface's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Sustainability Interface's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Sustainability Interface's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sustainability Interface's in the sector have low bargaining power. InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sustainability Interface's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting, in the dynamic environment Sustainability Interface's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Sustainability Interface's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting, it seems that the employees of Sustainability Interface's 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Sustainability Interface's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Sustainability Interface's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Sustainability Interface's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Sustainability Interface's 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Sustainability Interface's 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, Sustainability Interface's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting 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 Sustainability Interface's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting 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 InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Sustainability Interface's is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Sustainability Interface's 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Sustainability Interface's, firm in the HBR case study InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sustainability Interface's 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. Sustainability Interface's 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.
Opportunities InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting | 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 InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sustainability Interface's 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.
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. Sustainability Interface's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sustainability Interface's 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Sustainability Interface's 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 Sustainability Interface's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Sustainability Interface's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Sustainability Interface's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting case study. Sustainability Interface's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sustainability Interface's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Sustainability Interface's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Sustainability Interface's 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. Sustainability Interface's 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Sustainability Interface's 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Sustainability Interface's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Sustainability Interface's 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sustainability Interface's 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sustainability Interface's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sustainability Interface's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Threats InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Sustainability Interface's 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Sustainability Interface's 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 InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting .
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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Sustainability Interface's 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.
Environmental challenges
– Sustainability Interface's 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. Sustainability Interface's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sustainability Interface's 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 Sustainability Interface's
– 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 Sustainability Interface's.
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. Sustainability Interface's 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. Sustainability Interface's 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sustainability Interface's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sustainability Interface's 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sustainability Interface's 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting, Sustainability Interface's 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting 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 InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting 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 InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting 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 InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting 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 InterfaceRAISE (in 2010): Raising the Bar in Sustainability Consulting 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 Sustainability Interface's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.