Case Study Description of Charles Veillon, S.A. (A)
The top management team at Charles Veillon, a Swiss mail-order company, is considering whether to work with a human rights organization to monitor the labor practices of its suppliers. A particular concern is avoiding child labor and other forms of workplace coercion. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
Authors :: Lynn Sharp Paine, Aldo Sesia
Topics :: Technology & Operations
Tags :: International business, Labor, Marketing, Public relations, Social responsibility, Supply chain, Workspaces, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "Charles Veillon, S.A. (A)" written by Lynn Sharp Paine, Aldo Sesia includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Veillon Charles facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Labor, Marketing, Public relations, Social responsibility, Supply chain, Workspaces and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Charles Veillon, S.A. (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Veillon Charles, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Veillon Charles 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 Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Veillon Charles
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 Veillon Charles
Strengths Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Veillon Charles in Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Veillon Charles to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Veillon Charles to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Veillon Charles 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Veillon Charles is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Veillon Charles 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 Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Veillon Charles digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Veillon Charles 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Veillon Charles is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Veillon Charles is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Veillon Charles has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Veillon Charles to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Veillon Charles 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 Veillon Charles is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Veillon Charles is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Veillon Charles has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Veillon Charles 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 Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Charles Veillon, S.A. (A), is just above the industry average. Veillon Charles 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Veillon Charles 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. Veillon Charles 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Charles Veillon, S.A. (A), in the dynamic environment Veillon Charles has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Veillon Charles has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Veillon Charles supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Charles Veillon, S.A. (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Veillon Charles vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Veillon Charles 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Veillon Charles is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Veillon Charles needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Veillon Charles to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) HBR case study mentions - Veillon Charles 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, Lynn Sharp Paine, Aldo Sesia suggests that, Veillon Charles 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Veillon Charles is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Veillon Charles 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) 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 Veillon Charles 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) | 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 Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Veillon Charles can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Veillon Charles has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Veillon Charles to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) case study. Veillon Charles can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Veillon Charles 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.
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 Veillon Charles in the consumer business. Now Veillon Charles can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Veillon Charles 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Veillon Charles to increase its market reach. Veillon Charles 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Veillon Charles 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Veillon Charles can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Veillon Charles 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Veillon Charles 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Veillon Charles 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Veillon Charles 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 Veillon Charles to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Veillon Charles 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.
Threats Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) are -
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 Veillon Charles business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Veillon Charles with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Veillon Charles
– 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 Veillon Charles.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Veillon Charles 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.
Environmental challenges
– Veillon Charles 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. Veillon Charles can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Veillon Charles 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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Veillon Charles 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.
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. Veillon Charles needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Veillon Charles in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Veillon Charles is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Veillon Charles has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Veillon Charles 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.
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. Veillon Charles 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) 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 Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) 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 Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) 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 Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) 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 Charles Veillon, S.A. (A) 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 Veillon Charles needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.