Dollar General Corporation (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Dollar General Corporation (B)
This case follows the A case (UVA-BP-0253) by three years, chronicling the indigestion Dollar General (DG) suffers after the acquisition of the Eagle Store chain. The DG organization, originally held together by a strong sense of "rural American" values, deteriorates because of (1) dramatically different cultures (Dollar General vs. Eagle); (2) massive internal theft, which spreads from Eagle throughout the Dollar General organization; and (3) an irreparable rift between Cal Turner Jr., the president, and his brother Steve, the COO. The stock price has plummeted from 29 to 12. How can Cal Jr. regain control of his company and turn it around?
Swot Analysis of "Dollar General Corporation (B)" written by William E. Fulmer, Jim Kennedy includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Eagle Dollar facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Dollar General Corporation (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Diversity, Leadership, Mergers & acquisitions and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Dollar General Corporation (B) casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Dollar General Corporation (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Dollar General Corporation (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Eagle Dollar, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Eagle Dollar 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 Dollar General Corporation (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Dollar General Corporation (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Eagle Dollar
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 Eagle Dollar
Strengths Dollar General Corporation (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Eagle Dollar in Dollar General Corporation (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Eagle Dollar is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Eagle Dollar is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Dollar General Corporation (B) 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Eagle Dollar 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 Dollar General Corporation (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Eagle Dollar has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Dollar General Corporation (B) 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Eagle Dollar 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 Dollar General Corporation (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Eagle Dollar has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Eagle Dollar 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Eagle Dollar 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
– Eagle Dollar is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Dollar General Corporation (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Eagle Dollar digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Eagle Dollar 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Eagle Dollar is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Dollar General Corporation (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Dollar General Corporation (B) 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 Global Business industry
– Dollar General Corporation (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Eagle Dollar to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Eagle Dollar to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Dollar General Corporation (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Dollar General Corporation (B) are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Dollar General Corporation (B) 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 Dollar General Corporation (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Eagle Dollar is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Dollar General Corporation (B), is just above the industry average. Eagle Dollar 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Dollar General Corporation (B) 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 Eagle Dollar 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Eagle Dollar 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Eagle Dollar is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Dollar General Corporation (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Dollar General Corporation (B), 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.
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 Eagle Dollar supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Dollar General Corporation (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Eagle Dollar vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, William E. Fulmer, Jim Kennedy suggests that, Eagle Dollar 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Eagle Dollar products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Eagle Dollar needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Eagle Dollar is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Eagle Dollar needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Eagle Dollar 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 Dollar General Corporation (B) 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 Eagle Dollar has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Dollar General Corporation (B) | 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 Dollar General Corporation (B) are -
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 Eagle Dollar in the consumer business. Now Eagle Dollar can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Eagle Dollar has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Eagle Dollar to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Dollar General Corporation (B) case study. Eagle Dollar can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Eagle Dollar 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.
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. Eagle Dollar can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Eagle Dollar 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 Eagle Dollar can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Eagle Dollar can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Eagle Dollar operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Eagle Dollar 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, Dollar General Corporation (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Eagle Dollar 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.
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. Eagle Dollar can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Eagle Dollar 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 Eagle Dollar to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Eagle Dollar 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 Global Business segment.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Eagle Dollar 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 Dollar General Corporation (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Eagle Dollar to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Dollar General Corporation (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Dollar General Corporation (B) are -
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. Eagle Dollar needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Eagle Dollar
– 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 Eagle Dollar.
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. Eagle Dollar 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Eagle Dollar 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.
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 Eagle Dollar in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Eagle Dollar 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Eagle Dollar with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Eagle Dollar is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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
– Eagle Dollar 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
– Eagle Dollar 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, Eagle Dollar 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 Dollar General Corporation (B) .
Environmental challenges
– Eagle Dollar 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. Eagle Dollar can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Dollar General Corporation (B) 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 Dollar General Corporation (B) 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 Dollar General Corporation (B) 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 Dollar General Corporation (B) 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 Dollar General Corporation (B) 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 Eagle Dollar needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
