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Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A)


Faced with a persistent robbery problem at his convenience store company, Sean Sportun, security and loss prevention manager at Mac's of Central Canada, looked to standardize safety measures and devise a new way of preventing employee injury. But as a 32-year old with just one year on the job, Sportun had to tailor his message for change carefully to his colleagues, many of whom had worked for Mac's for decades. The case provides an overview of the convenience store industry and examines the challenges of crime prevention in a late-night retail environment.

Authors :: Francesca Gino, Katherine DeCelles, Olivia Hull

Topics :: Organizational Development

Tags :: Change management, Ethics, Human resource management, Knowledge management, Public relations, Workspaces, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A)" written by Francesca Gino, Katherine DeCelles, Olivia Hull includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mac's Prevention facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management, Ethics, Human resource management, Knowledge management, Public relations, Workspaces and Organizational Development.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A)


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mac's Prevention, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mac's Prevention 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 Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mac's Prevention
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Mac's Prevention




Strengths Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Mac's Prevention in Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -

Diverse revenue streams

– Mac's Prevention is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.

High brand equity

– Mac's Prevention has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Mac's Prevention to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Mac's Prevention digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Mac's Prevention 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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Mac's Prevention 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.

Training and development

– Mac's Prevention has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) 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.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Mac's Prevention 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Mac's Prevention in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Analytics focus

– Mac's Prevention 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 Francesca Gino, Katherine DeCelles, Olivia Hull 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.

Strong track record of project management

– Mac's Prevention is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Mac's Prevention is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field

– Mac's Prevention 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 Mac's Prevention in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.






Weaknesses Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) are -

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Mac's Prevention is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Mac's Prevention needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Mac's Prevention to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Mac's Prevention, firm in the HBR case study Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Lack of clear differentiation of Mac's Prevention products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Mac's Prevention needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A), is just above the industry average. Mac's Prevention 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) 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 Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Mac's Prevention is planning to shift buying processes online.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A), it seems that the employees of Mac's Prevention 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 existing supply chain

– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Mac's Prevention supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Mac's Prevention vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Mac's Prevention 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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Mac's Prevention 's lucrative customers.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Mac's Prevention 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 - Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Organizational Development 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 Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) are -

Manufacturing automation

– Mac's Prevention can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Organizational Development 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mac's Prevention can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mac's Prevention operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Mac's Prevention can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Buying journey improvements

– Mac's Prevention can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Mac's Prevention is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mac's Prevention 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.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– Consumer behavior has changed in the Organizational Development industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Mac's Prevention 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. Mac's Prevention 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Mac's Prevention 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 Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Mac's Prevention to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Mac's Prevention in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Organizational Development segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

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 Mac's Prevention 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.

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 Mac's Prevention in the consumer business. Now Mac's Prevention can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Mac's Prevention has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Mac's Prevention to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) case study. Mac's Prevention can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Mac's Prevention 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.




Threats Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) are -

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. Mac's Prevention 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

– Mac's Prevention 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.

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 Mac's Prevention.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Mac's Prevention is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Mac's Prevention has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mac's Prevention needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Organizational Development 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.

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 Mac's Prevention in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Mac's Prevention 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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Mac's Prevention 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 Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) .

Regulatory challenges

– Mac's Prevention 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 Organizational Development industry regulations.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A), Mac's Prevention may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .

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.

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. Mac's Prevention needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) Template, Example


Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants. We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –

First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.

Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.

Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Loss Prevention at Mac's Convenience Stores (A) is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Mac's Prevention needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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