Case Study Description of Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace
A successful, multigeneration manufacturing family business, with progressive human resources policies, weighs the pros and cons with family owners and company employees of selling the business to meet the challenge of global competition.
Swot Analysis of "Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace" written by Carrie Meek, John L. Ward includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Fel Multigeneration facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Human resource management, Leadership, Organizational culture, Strategic planning, Succession planning and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, increasing energy prices,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Fel Multigeneration, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Fel Multigeneration 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 Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Fel Multigeneration
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 Fel Multigeneration
Strengths Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Fel Multigeneration in Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Fel Multigeneration 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 Fel Multigeneration is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Fel Multigeneration is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace 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.
Training and development
– Fel Multigeneration has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Fel Multigeneration 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 Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace - 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 recruit top talent
– Fel Multigeneration is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Fel Multigeneration 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Fel Multigeneration has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Fel Multigeneration 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Fel Multigeneration is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Fel Multigeneration 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 Carrie Meek, John L. Ward 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.
High brand equity
– Fel Multigeneration has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Fel Multigeneration to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Fel Multigeneration 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 Fel Multigeneration in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Fel Multigeneration to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Fel Multigeneration to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace, in the dynamic environment Fel Multigeneration has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Fel Multigeneration has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace, is just above the industry average. Fel Multigeneration 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Fel Multigeneration 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. Fel Multigeneration 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Fel Multigeneration 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Fel Multigeneration products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Fel Multigeneration needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace 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 Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Fel Multigeneration is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Fel Multigeneration 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Fel Multigeneration 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Fel Multigeneration 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Fel Multigeneration is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Fel Multigeneration needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Fel Multigeneration to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Fel Multigeneration 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.
Opportunities Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace | 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 Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Fel Multigeneration 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Fel Multigeneration 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Fel Multigeneration can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Fel Multigeneration 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. Fel Multigeneration 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
– Fel Multigeneration 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 Fel Multigeneration 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 Fel Multigeneration to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Fel Multigeneration 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Fel Multigeneration to increase its market reach. Fel Multigeneration 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Fel Multigeneration can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Fel Multigeneration is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace 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.
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 Fel Multigeneration 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Fel Multigeneration can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Fel Multigeneration 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.
Threats Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Fel Multigeneration is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Fel Multigeneration 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Fel Multigeneration 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.
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. Fel Multigeneration can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Fel Multigeneration 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
– Fel Multigeneration has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Fel Multigeneration 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Fel Multigeneration 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace, Fel Multigeneration may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
Increasing wage structure of Fel Multigeneration
– 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 Fel Multigeneration.
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 Fel Multigeneration.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Fel Multigeneration 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Fel Multigeneration 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 Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace .
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace 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 Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace 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 Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace 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 Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace 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 Fel-Pro (A): A Five-Generation Winning Workplace 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 Fel Multigeneration needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.