Swot Analysis of "On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties" written by Gregory B Fairchild, , Natalie Race, Joyce Mallory includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Panties Knock facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation, Marketing and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Panties Knock, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Panties Knock 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 On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Panties Knock
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 Panties Knock
Strengths On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Panties Knock in On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Panties Knock is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Panties Knock in the sector have low bargaining power. On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Panties Knock to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Panties Knock 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Panties Knock 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Panties Knock 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 On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Panties Knock is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Panties Knock has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Panties Knock to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Panties Knock to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Panties Knock in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Panties Knock has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Panties Knock to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Panties Knock
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Panties Knock does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties 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 Panties Knock has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Panties Knock products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Panties Knock needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties HBR case study mentions - Panties Knock takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties 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 On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Panties Knock 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 Panties Knock supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Panties Knock vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Panties Knock 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. Panties Knock 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties, it seems that the employees of Panties Knock 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Panties Knock is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Panties Knock is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Panties Knock needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Panties Knock 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 On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties, is just above the industry average. Panties Knock 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Gregory B Fairchild, , Natalie Race, Joyce Mallory suggests that, Panties Knock 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.
Opportunities On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties | 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 On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Panties Knock 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Panties Knock can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Panties Knock 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Panties Knock 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Panties Knock can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties 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.
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 Panties Knock in the consumer business. Now Panties Knock can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Panties Knock 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Panties Knock in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Manufacturing automation
– Panties Knock 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. Panties Knock 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. Panties Knock 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Panties Knock is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Panties Knock 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 Panties Knock to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Panties Knock 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.
Threats On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties are -
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 Panties Knock in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Panties Knock needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Panties Knock can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Panties Knock 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. Panties Knock can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Panties Knock 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Panties Knock 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
– Panties Knock 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.
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 Panties Knock.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Panties Knock 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties, Panties Knock 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 .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Panties Knock is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Panties Knock 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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties 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 On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties 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 On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties 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 On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties 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 On the Ropes: Knock Out! Panties 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 Panties Knock needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.