Case Study Description of Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89
This case is available in only hard copy format (HBP does not have digital distribution rights to the content). As a result, a digital Educator Copy of the case is not available through this web site.Excerpts from the business press give perspectives on the internal operations of Sears, Roebuck over the course of half a century.
Swot Analysis of "Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89" written by Jan W. Rivkin includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Roebuck Sears facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competitive strategy, Corporate communications, Sales and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Roebuck Sears, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Roebuck Sears 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 Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Roebuck Sears
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 Roebuck Sears
Strengths Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Roebuck Sears in Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Roebuck Sears has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Roebuck Sears to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Roebuck Sears has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Roebuck Sears 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Roebuck Sears 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 Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Roebuck Sears is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Roebuck Sears to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Roebuck Sears to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Roebuck Sears in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Roebuck Sears
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Roebuck Sears does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Roebuck Sears is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– Roebuck Sears is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Roebuck Sears 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 Jan W. Rivkin 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Roebuck Sears 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Roebuck Sears is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Roebuck Sears is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Roebuck Sears needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Roebuck Sears to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Roebuck Sears 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89, in the dynamic environment Roebuck Sears has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Roebuck Sears has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Roebuck Sears, firm in the HBR case study Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 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 Roebuck Sears 's lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jan W. Rivkin suggests that, Roebuck Sears 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 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 Roebuck Sears has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Roebuck Sears supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Roebuck Sears vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Roebuck Sears 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Roebuck Sears 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 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 Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Roebuck Sears is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 | 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 Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Roebuck Sears is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Roebuck Sears 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, Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Roebuck Sears 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 Roebuck Sears to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Roebuck Sears 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.
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 Roebuck Sears in the consumer business. Now Roebuck Sears can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Roebuck Sears 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.
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. Roebuck Sears can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Roebuck Sears can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Roebuck Sears 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Roebuck Sears 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Roebuck Sears has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Roebuck Sears to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 case study. Roebuck Sears can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Roebuck Sears 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 Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Roebuck Sears to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Roebuck Sears 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 Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Roebuck Sears with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Roebuck Sears 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 Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 .
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 Roebuck Sears in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Roebuck Sears.
Regulatory challenges
– Roebuck Sears 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Roebuck Sears 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Roebuck Sears has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Roebuck Sears 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.
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. Roebuck Sears can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Roebuck Sears needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89, Roebuck Sears may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
Environmental challenges
– Roebuck Sears 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. Roebuck Sears can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 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 Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 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 Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 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 Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 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 Press Looks Inside Sears, Roebuck--1938-89 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 Roebuck Sears needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
