WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain
WoodSynergy Inc. had become a midsize player in the fine woods supplier industry. The firm purchased stock woods from a number of producers and processed them to meet specific customer specifications. WoodSynergy had recently launched a number of IT-based supply chain management initiatives and was interested in assessing the current progress. The senior management at WoodSynergy had long felt that efficiency improvements to the firm's supply chain could be made through increased information integration. This case introduces the student or student teams to the growing role of information technology in supply chain management.
Swot Analysis of "WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain" written by Owen Hall, Andrea Scott, Mark Chun includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Woodsynergy Woods facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT, Supply chain and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Woodsynergy Woods, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Woodsynergy Woods 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 WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Woodsynergy Woods
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Woodsynergy Woods
Strengths WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Woodsynergy Woods in WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Woodsynergy Woods 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 WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Woodsynergy Woods has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Woodsynergy Woods to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Woodsynergy Woods is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Woodsynergy Woods is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Woodsynergy Woods
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Woodsynergy Woods does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Woodsynergy Woods 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 Woodsynergy Woods is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Woodsynergy Woods 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 Owen Hall, Andrea Scott, Mark Chun 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Woodsynergy Woods is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Woodsynergy Woods has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Woodsynergy Woods 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Woodsynergy Woods 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 WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Woodsynergy Woods digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Woodsynergy Woods has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Training and development
– Woodsynergy Woods has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain 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.
Weaknesses WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Woodsynergy Woods 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Woodsynergy Woods products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Woodsynergy Woods needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain 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 Woodsynergy Woods 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain 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 WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Woodsynergy Woods is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Woodsynergy Woods supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Woodsynergy Woods vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Owen Hall, Andrea Scott, Mark Chun suggests that, Woodsynergy Woods 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Woodsynergy Woods is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Woodsynergy Woods needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Woodsynergy Woods to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain, is just above the industry average. Woodsynergy Woods 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Woodsynergy Woods 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Woodsynergy Woods 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.
Opportunities WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain | 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 WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Woodsynergy Woods 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Woodsynergy Woods 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.
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. Woodsynergy Woods 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 Woodsynergy Woods 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 Woodsynergy Woods to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Woodsynergy Woods has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Woodsynergy Woods to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain case study. Woodsynergy Woods can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Woodsynergy Woods is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Woodsynergy Woods 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Woodsynergy Woods 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, WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Woodsynergy Woods 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Woodsynergy Woods can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Woodsynergy Woods can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Woodsynergy Woods can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Woodsynergy Woods operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Woodsynergy Woods can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain 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 WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain 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. Woodsynergy Woods needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Woodsynergy Woods 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.
Environmental challenges
– Woodsynergy Woods 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. Woodsynergy Woods can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
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 Woodsynergy Woods business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Woodsynergy Woods 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry regulations.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain, Woodsynergy Woods may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Woodsynergy Woods has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Woodsynergy Woods needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Woodsynergy Woods 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Woodsynergy Woods in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
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 Woodsynergy Woods.
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 Woodsynergy Woods in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain 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 WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain 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 WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain 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 WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain 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 WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain 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 Woodsynergy Woods needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
