Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B)
In 2001 Veropoulos Spar, a 770 million Euro retailer in Greece and the Balkan region, intiated the implementation of a new Internet enabled collaborative ordering IT system with 3 suppliers: P&G, Unilever, and Elgeka. Two years later the project failed and had to stop. The CEO is now evaluating a new proposal for re-starting the initiative.
Swot Analysis of "Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B)" written by Theodoros Theos Evgeniou, Katerina Pramatari, Georgios Doukidis includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Veropoulos Spar facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT, Supply chain and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing energy prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Veropoulos Spar, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Veropoulos Spar 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 Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Veropoulos Spar
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 Veropoulos Spar
Strengths Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Veropoulos Spar in Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Veropoulos Spar 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 Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Veropoulos Spar 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Veropoulos Spar is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Veropoulos Spar in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Veropoulos Spar 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
– Veropoulos Spar has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Veropoulos Spar 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Veropoulos Spar to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Veropoulos Spar to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Veropoulos Spar digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Veropoulos Spar 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.
Training and development
– Veropoulos Spar has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) 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
– Veropoulos Spar is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Veropoulos Spar 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 Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) HBR case study mentions - Veropoulos Spar 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Technology & Operations strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Veropoulos Spar 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. Veropoulos Spar 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Veropoulos Spar products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Veropoulos Spar needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Veropoulos Spar has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B), it seems that the employees of Veropoulos Spar 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Veropoulos Spar is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Veropoulos Spar needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Veropoulos Spar to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Veropoulos Spar has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) 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 Veropoulos Spar has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Theodoros Theos Evgeniou, Katerina Pramatari, Georgios Doukidis suggests that, Veropoulos Spar 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Veropoulos Spar has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Opportunities Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) | 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 Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Veropoulos Spar 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Veropoulos Spar 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 Veropoulos Spar to increase its market reach. Veropoulos Spar 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 Veropoulos Spar 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Veropoulos Spar 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 Veropoulos Spar to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Veropoulos Spar 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.
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. Veropoulos Spar can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Veropoulos Spar has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Veropoulos Spar to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) case study. Veropoulos Spar can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Veropoulos Spar can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Veropoulos Spar 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Veropoulos Spar can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Technology & Operations segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Veropoulos Spar 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, Veropoulos Spar can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Veropoulos Spar operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Threats Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) are -
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. Veropoulos Spar 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.
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. Veropoulos Spar needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Veropoulos Spar has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Veropoulos Spar 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.
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 Veropoulos Spar in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Veropoulos Spar is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Veropoulos Spar 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.
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 Veropoulos Spar.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B), Veropoulos Spar 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 .
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 Veropoulos Spar business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Veropoulos Spar 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Veropoulos Spar 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 Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) 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 Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) 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 Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) 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 Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) 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 Internet Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (B) 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 Veropoulos Spar needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
