Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather
This case is used in Darden's EMBA and Global EMBA programs. It works well in any course covering short- and long-term strategic issues for a privately held firm experiencing strong growth. In 2011, sales at Chick-fil-A (CFA)surpassed $4 billion; however due to ownership's aversion to debt, the pace of expansion was significantly slower than the fast-food-segment average. Also, the biggest differences between CFA and other fast-food chains were its private, family-controlled ownership structure and its management philosophy. This case explores the relationship between an enterprise's philosophy and its long-term viability.
Authors :: Paul J Simko, Paul W. Farris, Virginia Weiler, Peter Gerardo
Swot Analysis of "Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather" written by Paul J Simko, Paul W. Farris, Virginia Weiler, Peter Gerardo includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cfa Fil facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cfa Fil, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cfa Fil 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 Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cfa Fil
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 Cfa Fil
Strengths Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cfa Fil in Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Cfa Fil
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cfa Fil does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cfa Fil 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 Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Cfa Fil 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 Cfa Fil in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cfa Fil in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Cfa Fil has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Cfa Fil 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
– Cfa Fil has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather 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 Cfa Fil in the sector have low bargaining power. Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cfa Fil to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cfa Fil has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Analytics focus
– Cfa Fil 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 Paul J Simko, Paul W. Farris, Virginia Weiler, Peter Gerardo 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.
High brand equity
– Cfa Fil has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cfa Fil to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cfa Fil is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Cfa Fil 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 Cfa Fil is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather 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 Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cfa Fil is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cfa Fil is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Cfa Fil 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cfa Fil 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Cfa Fil 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Cfa Fil, firm in the HBR case study Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Paul J Simko, Paul W. Farris, Virginia Weiler, Peter Gerardo suggests that, Cfa Fil 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Cfa Fil 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cfa Fil 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 - Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather 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 Cfa Fil has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather, is just above the industry average. Cfa Fil 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.
Opportunities Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather | 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 Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cfa Fil 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, Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Cfa Fil can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Cfa Fil 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. Cfa Fil 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cfa Fil 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cfa Fil to increase its market reach. Cfa Fil will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cfa Fil 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Cfa Fil is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Cfa Fil can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Cfa Fil can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cfa Fil operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cfa Fil 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Cfa Fil can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Cfa Fil 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cfa Fil has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cfa Fil to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather case study. Cfa Fil can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cfa Fil in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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.
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. Cfa Fil needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cfa Fil 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 Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cfa Fil is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Cfa Fil.
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. Cfa Fil 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cfa Fil 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.
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 Cfa Fil
– 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 Cfa Fil.
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 Cfa Fil business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Cfa Fil with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Cfa Fil in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Cfa Fil demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather 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 Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather 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 Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather 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 Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather 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 Chick-fil-A: A Bird of a Different Feather 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 Cfa Fil needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
