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 - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, 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 -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ruentex Liz in the sector have low bargaining power. Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ruentex Liz to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
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.
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.
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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ruentex Liz 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ruentex Liz has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
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.
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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ruentex Liz 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.
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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ruentex Liz has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ruentex Liz 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.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ruentex Liz 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ruentex Liz 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 - Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd., in the dynamic environment Ruentex Liz has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ruentex Liz has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd., 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.
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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ruentex Liz 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 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 -
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. Ruentex Liz 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 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Ruentex Liz can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. 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.
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.
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.
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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ruentex Liz 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.
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.
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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ruentex Liz has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ruentex Liz to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. case study. Ruentex Liz can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd., Ruentex Liz 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 .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ruentex Liz 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.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ruentex Liz 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Ruentex Liz 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ruentex Liz 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 Liz Claiborne, Inc. and Ruentex Industries Ltd. .
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 Ruentex Liz business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
