Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version
Describes events occurring over a four-year period in one division of Graves Industries. The division goes through a business cycle and uses several methods of managing earnings to meet its budget targets. The purpose of the case is to allow the exploration of the causes of the unethical (or fraudulent) behaviors and ways in which they could have been prevented, or at least detected more effectively.
Swot Analysis of "Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version" written by Kenneth A. Merchant, Joseph P. Mulloy includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Graves Division facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Business law, Corporate governance, Ethics and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Graves Division, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Graves Division 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 Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Graves Division
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 Graves Division
Strengths Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Graves Division in Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Graves Division 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 Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Graves Division has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Graves Division 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.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Graves Division 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 Graves Division in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Graves Division to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Graves Division to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Graves Division has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Graves Division to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Graves Division
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Graves Division does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Graves Division 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 Kenneth A. Merchant, Joseph P. Mulloy can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Graves Division is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Graves Division 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 Graves Division is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Graves Division is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Graves Division is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version HBR case study mentions - Graves Division 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 Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version 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 Graves Division 's lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Graves Division is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Graves Division 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Graves Division 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Kenneth A. Merchant, Joseph P. Mulloy suggests that, Graves Division 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version, 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version, is just above the industry average. Graves Division 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Graves Division 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version, in the dynamic environment Graves Division has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Graves Division has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Lack of clear differentiation of Graves Division products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Graves Division needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version | 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 Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Graves Division 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Graves Division 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 Graves Division 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 Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Graves Division can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– Graves Division 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.
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. Graves Division can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Graves Division 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Graves Division 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Graves Division is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Graves Division to increase its market reach. Graves Division 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Graves Division can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Graves Division has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Graves Division to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version case study. Graves Division can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Graves Division 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 Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Graves Division to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Graves Division can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version 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.
Threats Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version are -
Environmental challenges
– Graves Division 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. Graves Division can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Graves Division high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Graves Division is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Graves Division 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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Graves Division has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Graves Division 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Graves Division 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Graves Division with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Graves Division 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 Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Graves Division 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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Graves Division 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
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. Graves Division needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Graves Division business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version 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 Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version 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 Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version 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 Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version 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 Graves Industries, Inc. (B): Lohnes Marine Hardware Division, Spanish Version 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 Graves Division needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.