Swot Analysis of "Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B)" written by Doug J. Chung includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Kjell Motivating facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Kjell Motivating, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Kjell Motivating 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 Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Kjell Motivating
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Kjell Motivating
Strengths Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Kjell Motivating in Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Kjell Motivating 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 Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Kjell Motivating has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Kjell Motivating 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 Kjell Motivating in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Kjell Motivating is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Kjell Motivating to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Kjell Motivating to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Kjell Motivating 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 Kjell Motivating in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Kjell Motivating is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Kjell Motivating
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Kjell Motivating does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Kjell Motivating digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Kjell Motivating 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.
Learning organization
- Kjell Motivating 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 Kjell Motivating is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Kjell Motivating has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Kjell Motivating to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) HBR case study mentions - Kjell Motivating 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) 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 Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Kjell Motivating is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Kjell Motivating 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B), it seems that the employees of Kjell Motivating 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) 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 Kjell Motivating has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B), is just above the industry average. Kjell Motivating 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Kjell Motivating is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Kjell Motivating 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 - Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Kjell Motivating 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Kjell Motivating 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing 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.
Opportunities Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) | 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 Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) are -
Manufacturing automation
– Kjell Motivating can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Kjell Motivating 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 Sales & Marketing segment.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Kjell Motivating 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Kjell Motivating is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Kjell Motivating 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.
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 Kjell Motivating in the consumer business. Now Kjell Motivating can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Kjell Motivating 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Kjell Motivating can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Kjell Motivating operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Kjell Motivating can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Kjell Motivating can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Kjell Motivating has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Kjell Motivating to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) case study. Kjell Motivating can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Kjell Motivating can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Kjell Motivating can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Buying journey improvements
– Kjell Motivating can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) 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.
Threats Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Kjell Motivating 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 Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) .
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Kjell Motivating 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 Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
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. Kjell Motivating 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Kjell Motivating is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Kjell Motivating business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Kjell Motivating 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 Kjell Motivating in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Kjell Motivating needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Kjell Motivating 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Kjell Motivating 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
– Kjell Motivating has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Kjell Motivating needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing 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
– Kjell Motivating 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) 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 Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) 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 Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) 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 Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) 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 Kjell and Company: Motivating Salespeople through the Sales-Force Compensation Plan (B) 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 Kjell Motivating needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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