MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A)
MacAfee Building Supply, a distributor of building supplies and heating and plumbing products, had grown to become the largest company of its kind in the world by incentivizing profit-maximizing behavior at the local level. John Smith, a senior manager at the company's Build subdivision, had nevertheless grown concerned that MacAfee's incentive scheme, which incentivized profits at the branch level, was actually hindering long-term global profitability by creating a lack of cooperation among branches and discouraging branch manager's investment in long-term endeavors. In this three-part case students first recommend strategies for better aligning employees to a long-term focus, and then evaluate the results of the program the company selected.
Authors :: Ann Bartel, Rachel Griffith, Maria Guadalupe, Andrew Neely
Swot Analysis of "MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A)" written by Ann Bartel, Rachel Griffith, Maria Guadalupe, Andrew Neely includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Macafee Branch facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Balanced scorecard, Employee retention, Motivating people and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Macafee Branch, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Macafee Branch 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Macafee Branch
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Macafee Branch
Strengths MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Macafee Branch in MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Macafee Branch in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Macafee Branch is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Macafee Branch has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Macafee Branch in the sector have low bargaining power. MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Macafee Branch to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Macafee Branch has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Macafee Branch to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Macafee Branch has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Macafee Branch has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Macafee Branch 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Macafee Branch to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Macafee Branch to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Macafee Branch digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Macafee Branch 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.
Analytics focus
– Macafee Branch 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 Ann Bartel, Rachel Griffith, Maria Guadalupe, Andrew Neely 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Macafee Branch is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Macafee Branch
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Macafee Branch does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Macafee Branch 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) 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 Macafee Branch has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Macafee Branch has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Macafee Branch has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A), it seems that the employees of Macafee Branch 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, Macafee Branch is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Macafee Branch 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Macafee Branch is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Macafee Branch is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Macafee Branch needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Macafee Branch to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Macafee Branch has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) HBR case study mentions - Macafee Branch 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.
Opportunities MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) | 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Macafee Branch 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Macafee Branch to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Macafee Branch can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Macafee Branch can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Macafee Branch operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Macafee Branch can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Macafee Branch 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 Macafee Branch to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Macafee Branch can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Macafee Branch is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) 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.
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 Macafee Branch in the consumer business. Now Macafee Branch can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Macafee Branch in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Macafee Branch can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Macafee Branch 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Macafee Branch 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. Macafee Branch 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Macafee Branch 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, MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A), 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Macafee Branch 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) .
Increasing wage structure of Macafee Branch
– 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 Macafee Branch.
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.
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 Macafee Branch.
Regulatory challenges
– Macafee Branch 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
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 Macafee Branch business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Macafee Branch needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Macafee Branch 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Macafee Branch with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Environmental challenges
– Macafee Branch 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. Macafee Branch can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Macafee Branch is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Macafee Branch in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Macafee Branch has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Macafee Branch needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) 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 Macafee Branch needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
