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 - – geopolitical disruptions, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, 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 -
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.
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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Woodsynergy Woods in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Woodsynergy Woods is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Woodsynergy Woods in the sector have low bargaining power. WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Woodsynergy Woods to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Woodsynergy Woods has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Woodsynergy Woods is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Woodsynergy Woods, firm in the HBR case study WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Woodsynergy Woods 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. Woodsynergy Woods 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.
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.
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 star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain 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 Woodsynergy Woods has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain, in the dynamic environment Woodsynergy Woods has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Woodsynergy Woods has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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.
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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain, it seems that the employees of Woodsynergy Woods 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.
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 -
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.
Loyalty marketing
– Woodsynergy Woods 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.
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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Woodsynergy Woods 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. Woodsynergy Woods 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.
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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Woodsynergy Woods 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 WoodSynergy Inc.: Integrating IT into the Supply Chain - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Woodsynergy Woods to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Woodsynergy Woods 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Woodsynergy Woods can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Woodsynergy Woods in the consumer business. Now Woodsynergy Woods can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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.
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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Woodsynergy Woods is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Woodsynergy Woods with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Woodsynergy Woods 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Woodsynergy Woods can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Woodsynergy Woods 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.
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.