Swot Analysis of "Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand" written by Richard L. Nolan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Executes Ashley facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Reorganization, Strategy and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Executes Ashley, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Executes Ashley 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 Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Executes Ashley
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 Executes Ashley
Strengths Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Executes Ashley in Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand 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.
High brand equity
– Executes Ashley has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Executes Ashley to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Executes Ashley in the sector have low bargaining power. Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Executes Ashley to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Executes Ashley 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Executes Ashley 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Executes Ashley is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Executes Ashley is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Executes Ashley 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 Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Executes Ashley is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Executes Ashley is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Executes Ashley has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Executes Ashley 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
– Executes Ashley 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 Richard L. Nolan 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 Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand 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 Executes Ashley 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand, is just above the industry average. Executes Ashley 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 Executes Ashley products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Executes Ashley 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 Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand, in the dynamic environment Executes Ashley has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Executes Ashley has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand, it seems that the employees of Executes Ashley 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Executes Ashley 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Executes Ashley 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Richard L. Nolan suggests that, Executes Ashley 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand 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 Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Executes Ashley is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Executes Ashley is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Executes Ashley needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Executes Ashley to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand 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 Executes Ashley has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand | 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 Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Executes Ashley has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Executes Ashley to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand case study. Executes Ashley can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Executes Ashley can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Executes Ashley can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Executes Ashley can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Executes Ashley operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
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. Executes Ashley can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Executes Ashley 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Executes Ashley 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Executes Ashley is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Executes Ashley to increase its market reach. Executes Ashley 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Executes Ashley 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 Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Executes Ashley to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Executes Ashley 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 Executes Ashley to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Executes Ashley 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.
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 Executes Ashley 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 Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Executes Ashley 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 Executes Ashley 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 Executes Ashley 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
– Executes Ashley has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Executes Ashley 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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Executes Ashley 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand, Executes Ashley 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 .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Executes Ashley 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.
Environmental challenges
– Executes Ashley 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. Executes Ashley can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
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. Executes Ashley 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 Executes Ashley in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Executes Ashley 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 Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Executes Ashley is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand 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 Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand 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 Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand 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 Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand 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 Laura Ashley (C): Rebuilding and Transforming a Global Brand 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 Executes Ashley needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
