Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group
In November 2005, World Peace Industrial Group was at an important milestone as it prepared to join two other major electronics components distributors to form the WPG Holdings and become a dominant player in its industry. As its chief executive officer prepared for the merger, it became apparent that the company's financial position was threatened by inventory management and forecasting problems. Although sales and market share were increasing, profit margins were dropping as a result of increasing inventory costs. The chief executive officer asked the director of the Business Effective Promotion Group to resolve the worsening problem. How would the director identify the sources of weakness and recommend a plan of action as soon as possible?
Swot Analysis of "Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group" written by Chris J. Piper, Shwu-Min Horng includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Peace Prepared facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Managing organizations, Operations management and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Peace Prepared, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Peace Prepared 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 Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Peace Prepared
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Peace Prepared
Strengths Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Peace Prepared in Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Peace Prepared 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 Peace Prepared in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Peace Prepared 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 Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Peace Prepared is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Peace Prepared in the sector have low bargaining power. Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Peace Prepared to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Peace Prepared 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
– Peace Prepared is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Peace Prepared is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Peace Prepared in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Peace Prepared 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 Peace Prepared is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Peace Prepared has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group 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.
Analytics focus
– Peace Prepared 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 Chris J. Piper, Shwu-Min Horng 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Peace Prepared has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Peace Prepared has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Weaknesses Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group HBR case study mentions - Peace Prepared 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Peace Prepared 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Peace Prepared 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group 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 Peace Prepared 's lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Peace Prepared needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Peace Prepared has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group 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 Peace Prepared has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group, it seems that the employees of Peace Prepared 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Peace Prepared, firm in the HBR case study Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Lack of clear differentiation of Peace Prepared products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Peace Prepared needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group | 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 Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Peace Prepared 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Peace Prepared can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Peace Prepared 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Peace Prepared 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, Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– Peace Prepared can develop new processes and procedures in Global Business 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Peace Prepared can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Peace Prepared operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Peace Prepared can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Global Business 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Peace Prepared has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Peace Prepared to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group case study. Peace Prepared can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Peace Prepared in the consumer business. Now Peace Prepared can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Peace Prepared can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Global Business industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Peace Prepared 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. Peace Prepared 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Peace Prepared in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Peace Prepared can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group 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 Peace Prepared.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Peace Prepared 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Peace Prepared 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
– Peace Prepared 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. Peace Prepared can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Peace Prepared can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Technology 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.
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 Peace Prepared business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Peace Prepared needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group, Peace Prepared may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Global Business .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Peace Prepared is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Peace Prepared with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Peace Prepared
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Peace Prepared.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Peace Prepared has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Peace Prepared needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Global Business sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group 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 Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group 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 Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group 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 Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group 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 Distribution Management at World Peace Industrial Group 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 Peace Prepared needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.