Swot Analysis of "Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B)" written by Robert L. Simons, Hilary A. Weston includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Vip Kay facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate governance, Motivating people, Sales, Strategic planning and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Vip Kay, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Vip Kay 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 Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Vip Kay
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Vip Kay
Strengths Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Vip Kay in Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Vip Kay has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Vip Kay 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 Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Vip Kay to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Vip Kay to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Vip Kay is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Vip Kay is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Vip Kay is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (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.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Vip Kay 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 Vip Kay in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Vip Kay 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
– Vip Kay 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 L. Simons, Hilary A. Weston 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 Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Vip Kay digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Vip Kay 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Vip Kay 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
– Vip Kay has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Vip Kay 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.
Weaknesses Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Robert L. Simons, Hilary A. Weston suggests that, Vip Kay 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) 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 Vip Kay 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (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 Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Vip Kay is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Vip Kay is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Vip Kay needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Vip Kay to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Vip Kay 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Vip Kay is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Vip Kay products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Vip Kay needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (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 Vip Kay has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Finance & Accounting 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Vip Kay 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Vip Kay, firm in the HBR case study Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (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 Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) are -
Buying journey improvements
– Vip Kay can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Vip Kay 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Vip Kay 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 Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Vip Kay to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Vip Kay 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 Finance & Accounting segment.
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. Vip Kay can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Vip Kay in the consumer business. Now Vip Kay can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Vip Kay can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Vip Kay can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Vip Kay can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Vip Kay 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.
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 Vip Kay 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Vip Kay 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. Vip Kay 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Vip Kay 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.
Threats Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Vip Kay 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 Vip Kay.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Vip Kay 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 Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (B) .
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. Vip Kay 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.
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 Vip Kay in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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.
Increasing wage structure of Vip Kay
– 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 Vip Kay.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Vip Kay is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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 Vip Kay business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Vip Kay 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Vip Kay 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Vip Kay has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Vip Kay needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting 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 Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (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 Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (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 Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (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 Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (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 Mary Kay Cosmetics, Inc.: Sales Force Incentives (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 Vip Kay needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.