Swot Analysis of "Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B)" written by James K. Sebenius, Ellen Knebel includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bollingers Case.an facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Negotiations and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bollingers Case.an, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bollingers Case.an 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 Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bollingers Case.an
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 Bollingers Case.an
Strengths Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bollingers Case.an in Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bollingers Case.an 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 Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bollingers Case.an to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bollingers Case.an to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Bollingers Case.an has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bollingers Case.an to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Bollingers Case.an is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Bollingers Case.an is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bollingers Case.an in the sector have low bargaining power. Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bollingers Case.an to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Bollingers Case.an 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.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bollingers Case.an digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bollingers Case.an 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Bollingers Case.an 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 Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Bollingers Case.an 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 James K. Sebenius, Ellen Knebel 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Bollingers Case.an is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) 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
– Bollingers Case.an has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bollingers Case.an 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.
Weaknesses Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B), it seems that the employees of Bollingers Case.an 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Bollingers Case.an 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 - Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, James K. Sebenius, Ellen Knebel suggests that, Bollingers Case.an 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Bollingers Case.an 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Bollingers Case.an 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 Bollingers Case.an, firm in the HBR case study Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Bollingers Case.an 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 to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bollingers Case.an is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) 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 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 Bollingers Case.an supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Bollingers Case.an vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B), in the dynamic environment Bollingers Case.an has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bollingers Case.an has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) | 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 Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bollingers Case.an 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, Bollingers Case.an 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 Bollingers Case.an 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 Bollingers Case.an to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Bollingers Case.an 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Bollingers Case.an 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.
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. Bollingers Case.an 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. Bollingers Case.an 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.
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 Bollingers Case.an in the consumer business. Now Bollingers Case.an can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Bollingers Case.an 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Bollingers Case.an has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bollingers Case.an to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bollingers Case.an has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bollingers Case.an to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) case study. Bollingers Case.an can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bollingers Case.an 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Bollingers Case.an can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Bollingers Case.an operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
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 Bollingers Case.an 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.
Threats Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bollingers Case.an with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bollingers Case.an 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bollingers Case.an is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bollingers Case.an 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B), Bollingers Case.an may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
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 Bollingers Case.an.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Bollingers Case.an has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bollingers Case.an 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bollingers Case.an 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Bollingers Case.an needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Bollingers Case.an in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline 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. Bollingers Case.an needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better 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 Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) 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 Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) 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 Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) 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 Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) 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 Bollingers: Negotiating with Wal-Mart (B) 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 Bollingers Case.an needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
