TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY
In January 2006, F. Amaury Olsen, president and CEO of Tigre S.A., of Brazil called a meeting of his management team to discuss the options for a new growth strategy to be achieved by 2010. Olsen felt that Tigre, one of the world's leaders in plastic pipes and fittings, was now at a crossroads. Among the various options to be discussed were the opportunities for more product innovations, international expansion in the Americas and/or new product diversification with particular focus on the Brazilian home market. Learning objective: General management.
Swot Analysis of "TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY" written by Dominique Turpin includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Tigre Olsen facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Tigre Olsen, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Tigre Olsen 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 TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Tigre Olsen
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 Tigre Olsen
Strengths TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Tigre Olsen in TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Tigre Olsen 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Tigre Olsen is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Tigre Olsen to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Tigre Olsen to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Tigre Olsen has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Tigre Olsen 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.
Training and development
– Tigre Olsen has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Tigre Olsen 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 Tigre Olsen in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Tigre Olsen has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Tigre Olsen
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Tigre Olsen does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Tigre Olsen is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY 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.
Learning organization
- Tigre Olsen 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 Tigre Olsen is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Tigre Olsen in the sector have low bargaining power. TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Tigre Olsen to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Tigre Olsen 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.
Weaknesses TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY are -
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 Tigre Olsen supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Tigre Olsen vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Tigre Olsen 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY, in the dynamic environment Tigre Olsen has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Tigre Olsen 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 Tigre Olsen 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Dominique Turpin suggests that, Tigre Olsen 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Tigre Olsen 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 TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY, it seems that the employees of Tigre Olsen 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 TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY 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 Tigre Olsen has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY 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 Tigre Olsen 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY, is just above the industry average. Tigre Olsen 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Tigre Olsen is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY | 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 TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Tigre Olsen 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, TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Tigre Olsen can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Tigre Olsen operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Tigre Olsen 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Tigre Olsen 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Tigre Olsen can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Tigre Olsen is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY 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.
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 Tigre Olsen 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Tigre Olsen 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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
Buying journey improvements
– Tigre Olsen can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY 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 Tigre Olsen 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 Tigre Olsen to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Tigre Olsen 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Tigre Olsen can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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.
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. Tigre Olsen 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. Tigre Olsen 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.
Threats TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Tigre Olsen can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Tigre Olsen is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Tigre Olsen 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. Tigre Olsen can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Tigre Olsen
– 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 Tigre Olsen.
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 Tigre Olsen in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Tigre Olsen 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.
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 Tigre Olsen.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Tigre Olsen 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Tigre Olsen has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Tigre Olsen 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Tigre Olsen 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. Tigre Olsen 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 TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY 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 TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY 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 TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY 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 TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY 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 TIGRE S.A.: DEVELOPING A NEW GROWTH STRATEGY 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 Tigre Olsen needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.