Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership
This case deals with Carrier Corporation's management's efforts to create a strategic supply partnership with one of its major suppliers. Some issues covered include purchasing, supply chain management, alliances and partnerships, and productivity improvement. This case has been used in an MBA course on supply chain management and in executive education general management courses.
Swot Analysis of "Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership" written by Emily Jean Gibbons, Edward W. Davis includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Supply Carrier facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Supply chain and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, geopolitical disruptions,
technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Supply Carrier, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Supply Carrier 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 Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Supply Carrier
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 Supply Carrier
Strengths Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Supply Carrier in Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Supply Carrier is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership 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
– Supply Carrier 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 Emily Jean Gibbons, Edward W. Davis 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Supply Carrier has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Supply Carrier 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Supply Carrier is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership 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
- Supply Carrier 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 Supply Carrier is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Supply Carrier 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.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Supply Carrier 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 Supply Carrier in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Supply Carrier in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Supply Carrier in the sector have low bargaining power. Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Supply Carrier to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Supply Carrier
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Supply Carrier does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Supply Carrier 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 Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Supply Carrier is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership, in the dynamic environment Supply Carrier has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Supply Carrier has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Supply Carrier 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership 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 Supply Carrier has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Supply Carrier 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership, is just above the industry average. Supply Carrier 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Supply Carrier products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Supply Carrier needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Supply Carrier 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Supply Carrier 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership 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 Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Supply Carrier is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership HBR case study mentions - Supply Carrier 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.
Opportunities Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership | 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 Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership are -
Buying journey improvements
– Supply Carrier can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Supply Carrier 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Supply Carrier 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, Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Supply Carrier 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Supply Carrier 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Supply Carrier 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 Supply Carrier to increase its market reach. Supply Carrier 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Supply Carrier 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Supply Carrier is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Supply Carrier 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 Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Supply Carrier to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Supply Carrier can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Supply Carrier can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Supply Carrier operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
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. Supply Carrier can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership are -
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Supply Carrier 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Supply Carrier has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Supply Carrier 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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Supply Carrier 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. Supply Carrier can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Supply Carrier 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 Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Supply Carrier 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.
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 Supply Carrier business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Supply Carrier needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Supply Carrier 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Supply Carrier 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Supply Carrier is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Supply Carrier in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership 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 Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership 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 Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership 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 Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership 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 Carrier and GE Industrial Systems: A Supply Chain Partnership 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 Supply Carrier needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.