Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd.
Describes Liz Claiborne, Inc.'s manufacturing and marketing strategy and details the significance of its supplier selection strategy. It begins to describe the company's relationship with Ruentex Industries Ltd., its largest supplier of piece goods. When used with Ruentex Industries Ltd. and Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd.: Building the Relationship it details the evolution of a customer-supplier relationship in the textile/piece goods and apparel business. Also illustrates how a long-term cooperative relationship creates mutual value in the companies.
Swot Analysis of "Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd." written by Marie-Therese Flaherty, Jill S. Dalby includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ruentex Liz facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Operations management and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd.
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ruentex Liz, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ruentex Liz 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 Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ruentex Liz
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 Ruentex Liz
Strengths Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ruentex Liz in Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ruentex Liz is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Ruentex Liz 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 Ruentex Liz in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Ruentex Liz 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 Ruentex Liz is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ruentex Liz is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. 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.
Training and development
– Ruentex Liz has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. 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.
High brand equity
– Ruentex Liz has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ruentex Liz to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Ruentex Liz is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ruentex Liz in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Ruentex Liz 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 Marie-Therese Flaherty, Jill S. Dalby 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Ruentex Liz is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ruentex Liz to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ruentex Liz to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ruentex Liz 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. Ruentex Liz 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. 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 Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ruentex Liz is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. HBR case study mentions - Ruentex Liz takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Ruentex Liz 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ruentex Liz 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ruentex Liz is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ruentex Liz products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ruentex Liz needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Ruentex Liz 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Ruentex Liz, firm in the HBR case study Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd., it seems that the employees of Ruentex Liz 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd., is just above the industry average. Ruentex Liz 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.
Opportunities Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. | 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 Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ruentex Liz 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 Ruentex Liz to increase its market reach. Ruentex Liz 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.
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. Ruentex Liz can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ruentex Liz 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ruentex Liz 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 Ruentex Liz 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 Ruentex Liz to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ruentex Liz 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 Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ruentex Liz to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ruentex Liz 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ruentex Liz can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ruentex Liz operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ruentex Liz is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ruentex Liz 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Ruentex Liz 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ruentex Liz to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Threats Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. are -
Environmental challenges
– Ruentex Liz 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. Ruentex Liz can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
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 Ruentex Liz.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ruentex Liz 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ruentex Liz is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Ruentex Liz 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. Ruentex Liz needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Ruentex Liz
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Ruentex Liz.
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. Ruentex Liz can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ruentex Liz has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ruentex Liz 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ruentex Liz 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ruentex Liz with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Ruentex Liz in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. 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 Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. 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 Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. 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 Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. 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 Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. 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 Ruentex Liz needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.