Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability
Herman Miller, an office furniture supplier, decided to implement the cradle-to-cradle (C2C) design protocol during the design of its mid-level office chair, Mirra. The C2C protocol was a set of environmentally friendly product development guidelines created by architect William McDonough and chemist Michael Braungart. The essence of this protocol was to eliminate waste and potentially harmful materials by designing the product so that, at the end of its useful life, the raw materials could be fed back into either a technical or biological cycle and used for the same or other purposes. Therefore, materials remained in a closed-loop, eliminating the need for landfill and other toxic forms of disposal such as incineration. The case describes the C2C protocol, the details of how Herman Miller implemented C2C during the design of the Mirra chair, as well as the impact of the new protocol on their internal processes: design decisions, manufacturing, and supply chain management. The proximate decision point in the case is whether the company should replace the polyvinyl chloride (PVC) material in the arm pads of the Mirra chair. PVC was a highly toxic material to manufacture and dispose of and thus violated the C2C protocol. However, it was the standard material for arm pads and many other parts in the office furniture industry as it was durable, scratch resistant, and inexpensive. To switch to thermoplastic urethane (TPU), a more environmentally friendly material, for the Mirra Chair arm pad required at least modification of a production tool, or possibly a completely new tool. In addition, the cost of TPU was higher than PVC. There was also uncertainty about how consistent the quality of the arm pad would be with TPU.
Swot Analysis of "Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability" written by Deishin Lee, Lionel Bony includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that C2c Protocol facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategy, Supply chain, Sustainability and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the C2c Protocol, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which C2c Protocol 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 Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of C2c Protocol
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 C2c Protocol
Strengths Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of C2c Protocol in Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- C2c Protocol 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 C2c Protocol is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– C2c Protocol has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. C2c Protocol has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Innovation driven organization
– C2c Protocol is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For C2c Protocol digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. C2c Protocol 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.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– C2c Protocol 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 C2c Protocol in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– C2c Protocol has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability 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.
High brand equity
– C2c Protocol has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled C2c Protocol to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the C2c Protocol 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of C2c Protocol in the sector have low bargaining power. Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps C2c Protocol to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– C2c Protocol 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 Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability - 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
– C2c Protocol is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that C2c Protocol 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.
Weaknesses Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of C2c Protocol, firm in the HBR case study Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability HBR case study mentions - C2c Protocol takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Deishin Lee, Lionel Bony suggests that, C2c Protocol 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability, is just above the industry average. C2c Protocol needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Lack of clear differentiation of C2c Protocol products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, C2c Protocol needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability 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 C2c Protocol has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, C2c Protocol needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of C2c Protocol is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. C2c Protocol needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help C2c Protocol to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability, it seems that the employees of C2c Protocol 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability 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 C2c Protocol 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, C2c Protocol 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.
Opportunities Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability | 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 Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for C2c Protocol 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 C2c Protocol to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– C2c Protocol 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, C2c Protocol is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– C2c Protocol can develop new processes and procedures in Technology & Operations 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.
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 C2c Protocol in the consumer business. Now C2c Protocol can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– C2c Protocol 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help C2c Protocol to increase its market reach. C2c Protocol 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for C2c Protocol 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 Technology & Operations industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. C2c Protocol 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. C2c Protocol 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at C2c Protocol 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– C2c Protocol 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 Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help C2c Protocol to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, C2c Protocol 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, Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for C2c Protocol 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.
Threats Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, C2c Protocol 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 Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability .
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. C2c Protocol 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.
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 C2c Protocol in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability, C2c Protocol 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 .
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 C2c Protocol.
Increasing wage structure of C2c Protocol
– 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 C2c Protocol.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– C2c Protocol can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Technology 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents C2c Protocol with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– C2c Protocol has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, C2c Protocol needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Technology & Operations 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 C2c Protocol 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that C2c Protocol is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– C2c Protocol 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability 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 Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability 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 Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability 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 Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability 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 Cradle-to-Cradle Design at Herman Miller: Moving Toward Environmental Sustainability 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 C2c Protocol needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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