Deals on Wheels Inc. SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Deals on Wheels Inc.
Students tend to think they know what a business is - after all, they are avid consumers. This case helps them understand what they do know, and more importantly, what they do not know. The setting is 2009 and is not current, so students must consider whether retail from a process point of view has truly changed, or whether using technology-based interfaces in retail makes it seem to have changed. It also allows students to consider what advances in their retail experiences are the result of technology. This introductory case presents Uncle Joe's bicycle shop, Deals on Wheels. Mike and Mary have relocated to Raleigh, North Carolina, and are thinking of opening a bike shop there. On the way to their college reunion, they stop by Uncle Joe's house to visit and learn about his bicycle shop. Over dinner, the couple learns about how Uncle Joe acquired his business, the basic operations, what products were offered, and how customers' needs have changed over time. Some issues that Uncle Joe brings up in regard to expanding the business are possible advertising methods to produce additional sales, Internet-based parts sales that require more inventory on hand, and the need for more highly skilled workers. The story also mentions how Uncle Joe values human relations through his bike donations. The case may be used for class discussion of the following topics: Foundations of entrepreneurship; What is a business? Creating financial statements - transactions for one month are included as an exhibit to the case. Two follow-on cases offer more practice on these skills; Analyzing financial statements - three years of financials are included as an exhibit in the case. Students are asked to do a horizontal analysis and a vertical analysis of the data; Information systems in a business.
Authors :: William Nemitz, Dawna Travis Dewire, Richard Mandel, Ross Petty
Swot Analysis of "Deals on Wheels Inc." written by William Nemitz, Dawna Travis Dewire, Richard Mandel, Ross Petty includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Uncle Joe facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Deals on Wheels Inc. case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Business processes, Entrepreneurship, Financial management, IT, Marketing and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Deals on Wheels Inc. casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Deals on Wheels Inc.
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Deals on Wheels Inc. case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Uncle Joe, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Uncle Joe 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 Deals on Wheels Inc. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Deals on Wheels Inc. case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Uncle Joe
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 Uncle Joe
Strengths Deals on Wheels Inc. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Uncle Joe in Deals on Wheels Inc. Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Uncle Joe 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 Uncle Joe in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Uncle Joe in the sector have low bargaining power. Deals on Wheels Inc. has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Uncle Joe to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Uncle Joe has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Uncle Joe 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Uncle Joe has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Deals on Wheels Inc. - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Uncle Joe 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 Deals on Wheels Inc. HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Uncle Joe is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Deals on Wheels Inc. 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
– Uncle Joe is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Deals on Wheels Inc. are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Uncle Joe
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Uncle Joe does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Uncle Joe 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Uncle Joe is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Deals on Wheels Inc. Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Deals on Wheels Inc. 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.
Training and development
– Uncle Joe has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Deals on Wheels Inc. 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.
Weaknesses Deals on Wheels Inc. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Deals on Wheels Inc. are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Deals on Wheels Inc. HBR case study mentions - Uncle Joe takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Uncle Joe, firm in the HBR case study Deals on Wheels Inc. needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Deals on Wheels Inc., it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Uncle Joe has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Deals on Wheels Inc. 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 Deals on Wheels Inc. can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Uncle Joe is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Uncle Joe is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Deals on Wheels Inc. can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Uncle Joe 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Uncle Joe products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Uncle Joe needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Uncle Joe is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Uncle Joe needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Uncle Joe to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Deals on Wheels Inc. 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 Uncle Joe 's lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, William Nemitz, Dawna Travis Dewire, Richard Mandel, Ross Petty suggests that, Uncle Joe 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.
Opportunities Deals on Wheels Inc. | 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 Deals on Wheels Inc. are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Uncle Joe can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Uncle Joe 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, Deals on Wheels Inc., 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
– Uncle Joe can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Deals on Wheels Inc. 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Uncle Joe 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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Uncle Joe can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Uncle Joe operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Uncle Joe 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.
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 Uncle Joe in the consumer business. Now Uncle Joe can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Uncle Joe 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Uncle Joe 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 Deals on Wheels Inc. - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Uncle Joe to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Uncle Joe is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Deals on Wheels Inc. 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Uncle Joe has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Uncle Joe to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Deals on Wheels Inc. case study. Uncle Joe can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Uncle Joe 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 Uncle Joe 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. Uncle Joe can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Deals on Wheels Inc. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Deals on Wheels Inc. are -
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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Uncle Joe can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Uncle Joe.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Uncle Joe 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.
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 Uncle Joe business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Uncle Joe 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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Uncle Joe 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. Uncle Joe can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Uncle Joe in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Uncle Joe 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Uncle Joe 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.
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. Uncle Joe needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Uncle Joe can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Deals on Wheels Inc. 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 Deals on Wheels Inc. 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 Deals on Wheels Inc. 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 Deals on Wheels Inc. 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 Deals on Wheels Inc. 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 Uncle Joe needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
