Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process
GreenDust, a company established in 2009, sold branded, unused, seconds, surplus, and refurbished products at low prices. This traditionally had been an unorganized sector. With increased pressures on the bottom line, rapid changes in technology (and fast obsolescence), strategies of channel cleaning by the competition, and imminent e-waste regulations enforced by the Indian government, GreenDust tried to mitigate these factors by revolutionizing the returns management of consumer goods by streamlining it. While it succeeded in reducing the high costs associated with product returns, the company had to determine whether its business model was sustainable in 2014. Could GreenDust succeed in other emerging markets? How could the firm leverage its strength as an environmentally sustainable business? Mohita Gangwar Sharma is affiliated with FORE School fo Management,. Jitendra K. Das is affiliated with FORE School of Management. K.N. Singh is affiliated with Indian Institute of Management.
Authors :: Mohita Gangwar, Jitendra K. Das, K.N. Singh
Swot Analysis of "Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process" written by Mohita Gangwar, Jitendra K. Das, K.N. Singh includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Greendust Fore facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Manufacturing, Marketing and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process casestudy better are - – technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Greendust Fore, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Greendust Fore 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 Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Greendust Fore
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 Greendust Fore
Strengths Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Greendust Fore in Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Greendust Fore 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.
Organizational Resilience of Greendust Fore
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Greendust Fore does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Greendust Fore has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Greendust Fore is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process 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
– Greendust Fore is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process 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.
Analytics focus
– Greendust Fore 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 Mohita Gangwar, Jitendra K. Das, K.N. Singh 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Greendust Fore is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Greendust Fore 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Greendust Fore in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Greendust Fore digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Greendust Fore 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process 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
– Greendust Fore has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Greendust Fore to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Greendust Fore products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Greendust Fore 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, Greendust Fore 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. Greendust Fore 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 Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process, in the dynamic environment Greendust Fore has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Greendust Fore has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Greendust Fore 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 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 Greendust Fore supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Greendust Fore vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process HBR case study mentions - Greendust Fore 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process, it seems that the employees of Greendust Fore 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process 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 Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Greendust Fore is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Greendust Fore 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Greendust Fore 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 - Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Greendust Fore, firm in the HBR case study Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process | 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 Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process are -
Manufacturing automation
– Greendust Fore 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Greendust Fore has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Greendust Fore to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process case study. Greendust Fore can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Greendust Fore 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. Greendust Fore 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Greendust Fore can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Greendust Fore 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Greendust Fore to increase its market reach. Greendust Fore 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Greendust Fore 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, Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Greendust Fore 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Greendust Fore can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Greendust Fore operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Greendust Fore 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.
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. Greendust Fore can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Greendust Fore 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Greendust Fore 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.
Threats Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process, Greendust Fore 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 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. Greendust Fore needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Greendust Fore 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Greendust Fore 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Greendust Fore with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Greendust Fore 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.
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 Greendust Fore.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Greendust Fore has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Greendust Fore 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.
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. Greendust Fore can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Greendust Fore 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. Greendust Fore can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
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 Greendust Fore 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process 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 Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process 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 Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process 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 Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process 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 Greendust: Revolutionizing the Returns Process 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 Greendust Fore needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.