Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope
This case is based on the professionalization and governance challenges faced by Touchdown Footwear Limited (TFL), a mid-sized Indian footwear manufacturing family business. TFL was set up in 1965 in the southern Indian city of Mangalore by three brothers, Ramnath, Krishna and Ganesh Pai who had inherited their father's rubber trading business. Initially, TFL made flip-flops and catered to the local market. Over the years, it had expanded the product portfolio to include school shoes and other non-leather footwear. By 2016 TFL had a pan-India presence with some exports to African markets. In the early years, the three brothers managed all the functions of the business. When the next generation came of age and joined the firm in the 1970s and '80s, they took up various roles based largely on business exigencies. By 2016, TFL had a turnover of INR 16.19 billion but lacked professional management and a clear strategy. In the absence of an appropriate structure, systems and processes, decision-making was ad hoc. Inefficiencies and wastage were evident across the organization, and working capital was under severe strain. The firm suffered from a deficit of governance at both the family and business systems. The lack of clear policies and processes delayed many crucial decisions. Earlier attempts to professionalize the business had failed to achieve the desired results as family members lacked clear policies to follow and were unable to change their mindset. Furthermore, when the fourth generation began to enter the business, there were questions about their level of commitment and discipline. TFL required transitional change on multiple fronts to sustain the business but there was lack of clarity on the roadmap for the future.
Swot Analysis of "Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope" written by Navneet Bhatnagar, Kavil Ramachandran includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Tfl Footwear facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Emerging markets, Leadership and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Tfl Footwear, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Tfl Footwear 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 Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Tfl Footwear
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 Tfl Footwear
Strengths Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Tfl Footwear in Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Tfl Footwear has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Tfl Footwear 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Tfl Footwear 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 Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Tfl Footwear 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 Tfl Footwear in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Tfl Footwear 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 Tfl Footwear is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Tfl Footwear in the sector have low bargaining power. Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Tfl Footwear 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
– Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Tfl Footwear to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Tfl Footwear to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Tfl Footwear digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Tfl Footwear 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.
Training and development
– Tfl Footwear has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Tfl Footwear is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Diverse revenue streams
– Tfl Footwear is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope 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.
Analytics focus
– Tfl Footwear 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 Navneet Bhatnagar, Kavil Ramachandran 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.
Weaknesses Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope, in the dynamic environment Tfl Footwear has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Tfl Footwear has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope, is just above the industry average. Tfl Footwear 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 Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope 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 Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Tfl Footwear is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope HBR case study mentions - Tfl Footwear 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope 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 Tfl Footwear 's lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Navneet Bhatnagar, Kavil Ramachandran suggests that, Tfl Footwear 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope 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 Tfl Footwear has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Tfl Footwear is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Tfl Footwear needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Tfl Footwear to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Tfl Footwear 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Tfl Footwear has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Tfl Footwear even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope, it seems that the employees of Tfl Footwear 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.
Opportunities Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope | 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 Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope are -
Buying journey improvements
– Tfl Footwear can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope 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 Tfl Footwear 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.
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. Tfl Footwear can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Tfl Footwear has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Tfl Footwear to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope case study. Tfl Footwear can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Tfl Footwear in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People 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 Tfl Footwear 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Tfl Footwear 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 Tfl Footwear in the consumer business. Now Tfl Footwear can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Tfl Footwear can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Tfl Footwear 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Tfl Footwear to increase its market reach. Tfl Footwear will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Tfl Footwear 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 Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Tfl Footwear to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Tfl Footwear 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 Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope are -
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 Tfl Footwear.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Tfl Footwear 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Tfl Footwear has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Tfl Footwear needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
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. Tfl Footwear 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
– Tfl Footwear 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Tfl Footwear 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.
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. Tfl Footwear can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Tfl Footwear 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. Tfl Footwear can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Tfl Footwear 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Tfl Footwear 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope, Tfl Footwear 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 .
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 Tfl Footwear in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope 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 Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope 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 Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope 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 Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope 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 Touchdown Footwear on a Slippery Slope 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 Tfl Footwear needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
