IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion
This case illustrates the challenges associated with matching staffing levels with variable workload in retail stores and highlights how decisions related to staffing and scheduling affect operational performance and the quality of labor at the stores. The case describes the tasks (both in-store logistics and customer service tasks) that are carried out by store employees at one Dillard's department store and presents nine weeks of traffic data at an hourly level collected by IBM. Additional data on labor hours and number of customer transactions allow students to examine the relationship between staffing levels and conversion rate. Given the large variation in customer traffic over time and the relationship between staffing levels and conversion rates, how should Dillard's manage staffing levels?
Swot Analysis of "IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion" written by Zeynep Ton includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Staffing Dillard's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Staffing Dillard's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Staffing Dillard's 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 IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Staffing Dillard's
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 Staffing Dillard's
Strengths IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Staffing Dillard's in IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Staffing Dillard's 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 Zeynep Ton 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Staffing Dillard's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Staffing Dillard's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Staffing Dillard's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Staffing Dillard's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Staffing Dillard's 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Staffing Dillard's 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 IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Staffing Dillard's 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 Staffing Dillard's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Staffing Dillard's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Staffing Dillard's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion 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 lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Staffing Dillard's 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 Staffing Dillard's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Staffing Dillard's in the sector have low bargaining power. IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Staffing Dillard's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Staffing Dillard's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Staffing Dillard's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion HBR case study mentions - Staffing Dillard's 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Staffing Dillard's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential 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 Staffing Dillard's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Staffing Dillard's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Staffing Dillard's has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion 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 Staffing Dillard's 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Staffing Dillard's products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Staffing Dillard's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Staffing Dillard's 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. Staffing Dillard's 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Staffing Dillard's 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 Staffing Dillard's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Staffing Dillard's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Staffing Dillard's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion 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 IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Staffing Dillard's is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Staffing Dillard's, firm in the HBR case study IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion | 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 IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion are -
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. Staffing Dillard's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Staffing Dillard's 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.
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 Staffing Dillard's 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.
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. Staffing Dillard's 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. Staffing Dillard's 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Staffing Dillard's 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, IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Staffing Dillard's 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Staffing Dillard's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Staffing Dillard's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Technology & Operations industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Staffing Dillard's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Staffing Dillard's 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Staffing Dillard's 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Staffing Dillard's 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 Staffing Dillard's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Staffing Dillard's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Staffing Dillard's to increase its market reach. Staffing Dillard's 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.
Threats IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Staffing Dillard's 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Staffing Dillard's 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.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
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. Staffing Dillard's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Staffing Dillard's.
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. Staffing Dillard's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Staffing Dillard's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Staffing Dillard's 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. Staffing Dillard's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Staffing Dillard's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Staffing Dillard's 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Staffing Dillard's is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Staffing Dillard's 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.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion, Staffing Dillard's 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion 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 IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion 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 IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion 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 IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion 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 IBM Retail Business Assessment at Dillard's, Inc.: Managing Staffing Levels to Improve Conversion 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 Staffing Dillard's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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