Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost
A family-owned grocery business, Askew's Foods Inc. (Askew's), had to decide how to handle the threat of a Wal-Mart Superstore, which included a grocery department, coming into its market area. Before the news of Wal-Mart's potential arrival, Askew's had already purchased a site on which to build a second store in the city's uptown area, and the board needed to approve the design for the new building. Askew's had a long-standing tradition of being an environmentally sensitive, socially responsible, and community-minded retailer, and the board wanted to uphold those corporate values in the design and operation of the new Askew's store; however, the pending arrival of this low-cost competitor had to be considered in the decision. Was it fiscally responsible for Askew's to stay true to its principles and build a state-of-the-art, sustainable grocery store, or, given the new threat to its market share and profitability, as well as limited funding from its bank, should it opt for the more conservative and less expensive standard box option? Was cost the only consideration? The authors Robert Malach and Sandra Malach are affiliated with University of Calgary.
Swot Analysis of "Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost" written by Robert Malach, Sandra Malach includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Askew's Malach facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Social responsibility, Sustainability and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Askew's Malach, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Askew's Malach 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 Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Askew's Malach
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Askew's Malach
Strengths Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Askew's Malach in Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Askew's Malach is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Askew's Malach in the sector have low bargaining power. Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Askew's Malach to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Askew's Malach 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.
Organizational Resilience of Askew's Malach
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Askew's Malach does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Askew's Malach 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 Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Askew's Malach 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 Askew's Malach 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.
Learning organization
- Askew's Malach 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 Askew's Malach is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Askew's Malach has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Askew's Malach to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost 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.
Analytics focus
– Askew's Malach 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 Robert Malach, Sandra Malach 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Askew's Malach 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 Askew's Malach in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Askew's Malach is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Askew's Malach 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost 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 Askew's Malach 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Askew's Malach 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Askew's Malach 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Askew's Malach products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Askew's Malach needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Askew's Malach 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Askew's Malach 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 - Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost 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 Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Askew's Malach is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Askew's Malach 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Askew's Malach 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. Askew's Malach 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.
Opportunities Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost | 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 Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Askew's Malach can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Askew's Malach operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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 Askew's Malach in the consumer business. Now Askew's Malach can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Askew's Malach 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. Askew's Malach 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.
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. Askew's Malach can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Askew's Malach 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 Askew's Malach to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Askew's Malach 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, Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Askew's Malach can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Askew's Malach can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Askew's Malach is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Askew's Malach 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Askew's Malach can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Askew's Malach 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 Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Askew's Malach to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Askew's Malach has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Askew's Malach to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost case study. Askew's Malach can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost are -
Increasing wage structure of Askew's Malach
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Askew's Malach.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Askew's Malach 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.
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.
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 Askew's Malach in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Askew's Malach with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Askew's Malach 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.
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 Askew's Malach.
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. Askew's Malach needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Askew's Malach in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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.
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. Askew's Malach 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Askew's Malach 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Askew's Malach has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Askew's Malach needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost 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 Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost 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 Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost 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 Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost 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 Askew's Foods versus Wal-Mart: Sustainable versus Low-Cost 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 Askew's Malach needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.