Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008
In March 2008, the vice-president of governance, architecture, and corporate and diversified businesses for Canadian Tire Corporation (CTC) felt confident that the Business Intelligence (BI) system that had been scheduled to be implemented in 2005 was now ready for implementation. The right people and processes were now in place. With the right people involved at different levels in the organization and several process-related initiatives, CTC's annual report announced that several technology projects would be implemented this year.
Swot Analysis of "Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008" written by Nicole R.D. Haggerty, Ken Mark includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Tire Intelligence facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
there is backlash against globalization, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Tire Intelligence, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Tire Intelligence 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 Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Tire Intelligence
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Technology & Operations field.
4. Making a Technology & Operations topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Tire Intelligence
Strengths Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Tire Intelligence in Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Tire Intelligence
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Tire Intelligence does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Tire Intelligence 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.
High brand equity
– Tire Intelligence has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Tire Intelligence to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Tire Intelligence 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 Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Tire Intelligence in the sector have low bargaining power. Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Tire Intelligence to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 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.
Learning organization
- Tire Intelligence 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 Tire Intelligence is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Tire Intelligence to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Tire Intelligence to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Tire Intelligence is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Tire Intelligence 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 Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Tire Intelligence has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Tire Intelligence 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.
Analytics focus
– Tire Intelligence 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 Nicole R.D. Haggerty, Ken Mark 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.
Weaknesses Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Tire Intelligence 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Tire Intelligence products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Tire Intelligence needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008, in the dynamic environment Tire Intelligence has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Tire Intelligence has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Tire Intelligence 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 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 Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Tire Intelligence is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Tire Intelligence, firm in the HBR case study Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Tire Intelligence 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Tire Intelligence 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 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 Tire Intelligence 's lucrative 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 Tire Intelligence supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Tire Intelligence vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Tire Intelligence 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. Tire Intelligence even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Opportunities Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 | 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 Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Tire Intelligence has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Tire Intelligence to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 case study. Tire Intelligence can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Tire Intelligence in the consumer business. Now Tire Intelligence can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Tire Intelligence can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Technology & Operations 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Tire Intelligence 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 Technology & Operations segment.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Tire Intelligence can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Tire Intelligence can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Tire Intelligence operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Tire Intelligence 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Tire Intelligence 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Tire Intelligence can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Tire Intelligence 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, Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Tire Intelligence is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Tire Intelligence in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Technology & Operations segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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 Tire Intelligence 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 Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008, Tire Intelligence may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Technology & Operations .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Tire Intelligence 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.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Tire Intelligence business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Technology & Operations field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Tire Intelligence 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. Tire Intelligence needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Tire Intelligence 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 Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Tire Intelligence in the Technology & Operations industry. The Technology & Operations 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Tire Intelligence 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Tire Intelligence with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Tire Intelligence 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 Technology & Operations industry regulations.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Tire Intelligence 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.
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. Tire Intelligence 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.
Increasing wage structure of Tire Intelligence
– 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 Tire Intelligence.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 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 Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 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 Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 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 Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 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 Canadian Tire: Business Intelligence in 2008 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 Tire Intelligence needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
