Case Study Description of Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide
In 2016, Bossard AG was a leading wholesaler and supply chain service provider for fasteners. Its business model aimed to improve the efficiency of clients' manufacturing operations by applying Industry 4.0 technologies to integrate the delivery of the highest quality screws, nuts, and bolts with logistics solutions for supply chains, and technical solutions for product designs using fasteners. Bossard's key selling point was its ability to enhance its clients' consumable parts management, thus reducing their total costs of ownership. Bossard had been successful in Europe, but found the Chinese market difficult to penetrate. The company was looking for better ways to deliver value to Chinese industrial customers. Klaus Meyer is affiliated with China Europe International Business School.
Swot Analysis of "Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide" written by Klaus Meyer, Alexandra Han includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bossard 4.0 facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Economy, Supply chain and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bossard 4.0, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bossard 4.0 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 Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bossard 4.0
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 Bossard 4.0
Strengths Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bossard 4.0 in Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Bossard 4.0 is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bossard 4.0 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 Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Bossard 4.0 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Bossard 4.0 has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bossard 4.0 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bossard 4.0 digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bossard 4.0 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bossard 4.0 in the sector have low bargaining power. Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bossard 4.0 to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bossard 4.0 to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bossard 4.0 to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Bossard 4.0 has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bossard 4.0 to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Bossard 4.0 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 Bossard 4.0 is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Bossard 4.0 is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Bossard 4.0 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 Klaus Meyer, Alexandra Han 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 recruit top talent
– Bossard 4.0 is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide 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 Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide 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 Bossard 4.0 's lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Bossard 4.0 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bossard 4.0 is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Bossard 4.0 products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Bossard 4.0 needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Bossard 4.0 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide, it seems that the employees of Bossard 4.0 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Bossard 4.0, firm in the HBR case study Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Bossard 4.0 is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Bossard 4.0 needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bossard 4.0 to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide, is just above the industry average. Bossard 4.0 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Bossard 4.0 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 - Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Bossard 4.0 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.
Opportunities Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide | 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 Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Bossard 4.0 can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Bossard 4.0 in the consumer business. Now Bossard 4.0 can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Bossard 4.0 can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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.
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. Bossard 4.0 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. Bossard 4.0 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bossard 4.0 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, Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Bossard 4.0 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 Bossard 4.0 to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Bossard 4.0 can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Bossard 4.0 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 Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bossard 4.0 to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Bossard 4.0 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Bossard 4.0 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bossard 4.0 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bossard 4.0 has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bossard 4.0 to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide case study. Bossard 4.0 can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bossard 4.0 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.
Threats Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide 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 Bossard 4.0 in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Bossard 4.0.
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. Bossard 4.0 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bossard 4.0 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bossard 4.0 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bossard 4.0 is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide, Bossard 4.0 may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bossard 4.0 with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bossard 4.0 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.
Environmental challenges
– Bossard 4.0 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. Bossard 4.0 can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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.
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. Bossard 4.0 needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide 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 Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide 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 Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide 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 Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide 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 Bossard AG: Enabling Industry 4.0 Logistics, Worldwide 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 Bossard 4.0 needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.