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Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid


Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc. (Jos. A. Bank), a men's apparel retail chain, made a bid to acquire its industry rival, the Men's Wearhouse. The Men's Wearhouse not only rebuffed the bid but turned around and made a counter bid to acquire Jos. A. Bank. Initially, Jos. A. Bank merely rejected the offer as inadequate but subsequently made an offer to buy Eddie Bauer, a chain selling outdoor apparel, to make itself an unattractive target for the Men's Wearhouse. Surrounding this takeover drama were a host of other actors, including Beacon Light Capital, a hedge fund that called for significant governance changes at Jos. A. Bank, and a second hedge fund, Eminence Capital, that owned stock in both Jos. A. Bank and the Men's Wearhouse, and had filed a lawsuit against Jos. A. Bank to push for the deal to go through. The chairman of Jos. A. Bank's board was faced with a critical decision regarding the acquisition offer from the Men's Wearhouse and his own company's offer to buy Eddie Bauer.

Authors :: Ram Subramanian

Topics :: Strategy & Execution

Tags :: Mergers & acquisitions, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid" written by Ram Subramanian includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Jos Wearhouse facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Mergers & acquisitions and Strategy & Execution.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, technology disruption, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid


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




Strengths Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Jos Wearhouse in Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid Harvard Business Review case study are -

Highly skilled collaborators

– Jos Wearhouse 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 Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field

– Jos Wearhouse 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 Jos Wearhouse 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

– Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Jos Wearhouse to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Jos Wearhouse to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Analytics focus

– Jos Wearhouse 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 Ram Subramanian 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.

Training and development

– Jos Wearhouse has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid 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.

Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Jos Wearhouse digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Jos Wearhouse 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.

Learning organization

- Jos Wearhouse 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 Jos Wearhouse is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Jos Wearhouse in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Jos Wearhouse are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.

Organizational Resilience of Jos Wearhouse

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

Diverse revenue streams

– Jos Wearhouse is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid 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.






Weaknesses Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid are -

Need for greater diversity

– Jos Wearhouse 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.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Jos Wearhouse is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Jos Wearhouse 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, Jos Wearhouse 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Jos Wearhouse 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 - Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid 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 Jos Wearhouse 's lucrative customers.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid 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 Jos Wearhouse has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Lack of clear differentiation of Jos Wearhouse products

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

Increasing silos among functional specialists

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

High dependence on existing supply chain

– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Jos Wearhouse supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Jos Wearhouse vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid, in the dynamic environment Jos Wearhouse has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Jos Wearhouse has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.




Opportunities Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid | 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 Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid are -

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. Jos Wearhouse can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Jos Wearhouse has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Jos Wearhouse to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid case study. Jos Wearhouse 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, Jos Wearhouse is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Jos Wearhouse 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.

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 Jos Wearhouse in the consumer business. Now Jos Wearhouse can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Jos Wearhouse 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, Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

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. Jos Wearhouse 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. Jos Wearhouse 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Jos Wearhouse 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Jos Wearhouse 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

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

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Jos Wearhouse 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Jos Wearhouse to increase its market reach. Jos Wearhouse 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Jos Wearhouse can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.




Threats Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid are -

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Jos Wearhouse 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 wage structure of Jos Wearhouse

– 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 Jos Wearhouse.

Regulatory challenges

– Jos Wearhouse 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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Jos Wearhouse 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.

Environmental challenges

– Jos Wearhouse 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. Jos Wearhouse can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.

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 Jos Wearhouse.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Jos Wearhouse has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Jos Wearhouse 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.

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.

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 Jos Wearhouse in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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. Jos Wearhouse 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. Jos Wearhouse 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.

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

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Jos Wearhouse with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid 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 Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid 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 Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid 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 Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid 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 Jos. A. Bank Clothiers, Inc.: The Men's Wearhouse Bid 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 Jos Wearhouse needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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