Case Study Description of Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A)
In 2001 Veropoulos Spar, a 770 million Euro retailer in Greece and the Balkan region, intiated the implementation of a new Internet enabled collaborative ordering IT system with 3 suppliers: P&G, Unilever, and Elgeka. Two years later the project failed and had to stop. The CEO is now evaluating a new proposal for re-starting the initiative.
Swot Analysis of "Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A)" written by Theodoros Theos Evgeniou, Katerina Pramatari, Georgios Doukidis includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Veropoulos Spar facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT, Supply chain and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, geopolitical disruptions,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Veropoulos Spar, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Veropoulos Spar operates in.
According to Harvard Business Review, 75% of the managers use SWOT analysis for various purposes such as – evaluating current scenario, strategic planning, new venture feasibility, personal growth goals, new market entry, Go To market strategies, portfolio management and strategic trade-off assessment, organizational restructuring, etc.
SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix
SWOT analysis of Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Veropoulos Spar
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Technology & Operations field.
4. Making a Technology & Operations topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Veropoulos Spar
Strengths Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Veropoulos Spar in Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Veropoulos Spar 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 Theodoros Theos Evgeniou, Katerina Pramatari, Georgios Doukidis 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.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Veropoulos Spar digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Veropoulos Spar has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Diverse revenue streams
– Veropoulos Spar is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) 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.
Organizational Resilience of Veropoulos Spar
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Veropoulos Spar does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Veropoulos Spar has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Veropoulos Spar to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Veropoulos Spar in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Veropoulos Spar are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Veropoulos Spar is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Veropoulos Spar has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Veropoulos Spar has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Veropoulos Spar is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) are -
Need for greater diversity
– Veropoulos Spar 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) 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 Veropoulos Spar 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Veropoulos Spar 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Veropoulos Spar needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Veropoulos Spar has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Theodoros Theos Evgeniou, Katerina Pramatari, Georgios Doukidis suggests that, Veropoulos Spar is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A), it seems that the employees of Veropoulos Spar don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A), in the dynamic environment Veropoulos Spar has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Veropoulos Spar has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Lack of clear differentiation of Veropoulos Spar products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Veropoulos Spar needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High 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 Veropoulos Spar supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Veropoulos Spar vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Veropoulos Spar is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Veropoulos Spar to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Veropoulos Spar to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Veropoulos Spar to increase its market reach. Veropoulos Spar will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Veropoulos Spar can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Veropoulos Spar can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Technology & Operations segment.
Buying journey improvements
– Veropoulos Spar can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) 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.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Veropoulos Spar can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Veropoulos Spar has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Veropoulos Spar is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Veropoulos Spar can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Veropoulos Spar in the consumer business. Now Veropoulos Spar can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Veropoulos Spar 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 Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Veropoulos Spar to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Veropoulos Spar 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 Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) are -
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Veropoulos Spar in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Veropoulos Spar is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Veropoulos Spar 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.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Veropoulos Spar needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology 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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Veropoulos Spar 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. Veropoulos Spar 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, Veropoulos Spar can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) .
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Veropoulos Spar.
Regulatory challenges
– Veropoulos Spar 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Veropoulos Spar can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Veropoulos Spar business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Veropoulos Spar can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Internet-Enabled Collaborative Store Ordering: Veropoulos Spar Retailer (A) is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Veropoulos Spar needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
