Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future
The director of marketing for Lawrence & Mayo (L&M) was reviewing the company's results for the past financial year. Far from encouraging, the results were a reflection of an addition to the company's existing product portfolio: accessories. L&M was an established name in the field of ophthalmic and optical instruments. The prestigious brand had maintained an exclusive positioning for over 100 years. When L&M launched premium watches under its existing brand, it took a bold step. The product was, no doubt, world class in quality and design. However, the company's detractors wrote it off, calling it an attempt to ride two horses at the same time. Did the recent financial results vindicate these critics? The director of marketing wanted to comprehend the impact of the new product line, the reasons behind the poor performance and the way forward for L&M. Harvinder Singh is affiliated with Institute of Management Technology, Ghaziabad.
Swot Analysis of "Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future" written by Harvinder Singh, Srini R. Srinivasan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mayo Lawrence facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mayo Lawrence, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mayo Lawrence 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 Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mayo Lawrence
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 Mayo Lawrence
Strengths Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mayo Lawrence in Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mayo Lawrence 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 Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Mayo Lawrence 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 Mayo Lawrence is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Mayo Lawrence has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future 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.
Analytics focus
– Mayo Lawrence 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 Harvinder Singh, Srini R. Srinivasan 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 lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Mayo Lawrence is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Mayo Lawrence in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mayo Lawrence to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mayo Lawrence to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Mayo Lawrence is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Mayo Lawrence 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Mayo Lawrence is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– Mayo Lawrence is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Mayo Lawrence in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Mayo Lawrence 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future HBR case study mentions - Mayo Lawrence 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future 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 Mayo Lawrence 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future, it seems that the employees of Mayo Lawrence 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future 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 Mayo Lawrence has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Mayo Lawrence has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Mayo Lawrence is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Mayo Lawrence needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Mayo Lawrence to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Mayo Lawrence has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
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 Mayo Lawrence supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Mayo Lawrence vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Mayo Lawrence needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future, in the dynamic environment Mayo Lawrence has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Mayo Lawrence has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future | 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 Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Mayo Lawrence 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 Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Mayo Lawrence to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Mayo Lawrence can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Mayo Lawrence can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Mayo Lawrence is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Mayo Lawrence 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Mayo Lawrence 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Mayo Lawrence has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Mayo Lawrence to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future case study. Mayo Lawrence can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Mayo Lawrence 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. Mayo Lawrence 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.
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 Mayo Lawrence in the consumer business. Now Mayo Lawrence can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Mayo Lawrence 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mayo Lawrence can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mayo Lawrence operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Mayo Lawrence can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Mayo Lawrence 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, Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future are -
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. Mayo Lawrence can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Mayo Lawrence 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
– Mayo Lawrence 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. Mayo Lawrence can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Mayo Lawrence 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 Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future .
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mayo Lawrence is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mayo Lawrence 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Mayo Lawrence with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Mayo Lawrence 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 Mayo Lawrence.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Mayo Lawrence 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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Mayo Lawrence
– 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 Mayo Lawrence.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future 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 Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future 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 Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future 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 Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future 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 Lawrence & Mayo Envisioning the Future 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 Mayo Lawrence needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
