After decades of poor economic performance, the Irish government adopted major changes in economic policy in 1987. By the end of the 1990s, Ireland's real GDP growth rate of almost 10% per year exceeds that of all member nations of the European Union (EU). A key component of Ireland's growth strategy has been the encouragement of foreign direct investment through low tax rates and financial and logistical support provided by the Irish Industrial Development Agency (IDA). In 1999, Ireland confronts the issue of sustainability of the "Irish miracle" in the face of diminishing access to EU subsidies, increasingly strained physical infrastructure, and questions of equity in the distribution of economic gains across the population. The case includes substantial material relating to the Irish political, social, and historical context in addition to traditional economic statistics.
Authors :: Willis Emmons, Adele Cooper, J. Richard Lenane
Topics :: Global Business
Tags :: Global strategy, National competitiveness, Policy, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "1-800 Buy Ireland" written by Willis Emmons, Adele Cooper, J. Richard Lenane includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Irish Ireland's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in 1-800 Buy Ireland case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Global strategy, National competitiveness, Policy and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the 1-800 Buy Ireland casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption,
increasing energy prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of 1-800 Buy Ireland
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in 1-800 Buy Ireland case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Irish Ireland's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Irish Ireland's 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 1-800 Buy Ireland can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in 1-800 Buy Ireland case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Irish Ireland's
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 Irish Ireland's
Strengths 1-800 Buy Ireland | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Irish Ireland's in 1-800 Buy Ireland Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Irish Ireland's 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 1-800 Buy Ireland HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Irish Ireland's 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.
High brand equity
– Irish Ireland's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Irish Ireland's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Irish Ireland's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in 1-800 Buy Ireland 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 lead change in Global Business field
– Irish Ireland's 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 Irish Ireland's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Irish Ireland's 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 1-800 Buy Ireland - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Irish Ireland's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Irish Ireland's 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Irish Ireland's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in 1-800 Buy Ireland 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.
Organizational Resilience of Irish Ireland's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Irish Ireland's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Irish Ireland's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Irish Ireland's 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– 1-800 Buy Ireland firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Irish Ireland's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Irish Ireland's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Irish Ireland's in the sector have low bargaining power. 1-800 Buy Ireland has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Irish Ireland's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses 1-800 Buy Ireland | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of 1-800 Buy Ireland are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Irish Ireland's 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Irish Ireland's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Irish Ireland's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Irish Ireland's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the 1-800 Buy Ireland 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 Irish Ireland's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Irish Ireland's 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. Irish Ireland's 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study 1-800 Buy Ireland, 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Irish Ireland's products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Irish Ireland's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Irish Ireland's 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Irish Ireland's 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 dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Irish Ireland's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - 1-800 Buy Ireland, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Irish Ireland's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Irish Ireland's has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - 1-800 Buy Ireland should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Irish Ireland's 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.
Opportunities 1-800 Buy Ireland | 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 1-800 Buy Ireland are -
Buying journey improvements
– Irish Ireland's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. 1-800 Buy Ireland 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Irish Ireland's 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Irish Ireland's 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Irish Ireland's 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.
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 Irish Ireland's in the consumer business. Now Irish Ireland's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Irish Ireland's to increase its market reach. Irish Ireland's 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Irish Ireland's 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Irish Ireland's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Irish Ireland's 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Irish Ireland's 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.
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. Irish Ireland's 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. Irish Ireland's 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Irish Ireland's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Irish Ireland's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the 1-800 Buy Ireland case study. Irish Ireland's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Irish Ireland's 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, 1-800 Buy Ireland, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats 1-800 Buy Ireland External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study 1-800 Buy Ireland 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 Irish Ireland's.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Irish Ireland's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Irish Ireland's 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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Irish Ireland's 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Irish Ireland's 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Irish Ireland's is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Irish Ireland's 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 Global Business industry regulations.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Irish Ireland's 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Irish Ireland's 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 1-800 Buy Ireland .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Irish Ireland's in the Global Business industry. The Global Business 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Irish Ireland's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Irish Ireland's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of 1-800 Buy Ireland 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 1-800 Buy Ireland 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 1-800 Buy Ireland 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 1-800 Buy Ireland 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 1-800 Buy Ireland 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 Irish Ireland's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
