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Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp.


Maureen Frye, assistant product manager at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp., is asked to implement an action plan for changing the call pattern of the salesforce. Currently the salesforce is spending too much time on small accounts. Earlier Frye attempted to change their call patterns without success. Now with the express call mandate of top management she has to present a plan that will work.

Authors :: John J. Gabarro

Topics :: Leadership & Managing People

Tags :: Sales, Strategy execution, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp." written by John J. Gabarro includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Frye Maureen facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Sales, Strategy execution and Leadership & Managing People.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. casestudy better are - – technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp.


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Frye Maureen, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Frye Maureen 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 Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Frye Maureen
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 Frye Maureen




Strengths Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Frye Maureen in Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. Harvard Business Review case study are -

Highly skilled collaborators

– Frye Maureen 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 Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. 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

– Frye Maureen 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 Frye Maureen in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Organizational Resilience of Frye Maureen

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Frye Maureen does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. 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.

Training and development

– Frye Maureen has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. 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.

Diverse revenue streams

– Frye Maureen is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Frye Maureen 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

– Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Frye Maureen to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Frye Maureen to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Learning organization

- Frye Maureen 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 Frye Maureen is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Innovation driven organization

– Frye Maureen is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Analytics focus

– Frye Maureen 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 John J. Gabarro 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Frye Maureen 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 Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.






Weaknesses Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. are -

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. 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 Frye Maureen has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. 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 Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Frye Maureen is planning to shift buying processes online.

Lack of clear differentiation of Frye Maureen products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Frye Maureen needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Frye Maureen 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Frye Maureen, firm in the HBR case study Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

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 Frye Maureen supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp., it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Frye Maureen vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp., it seems that the employees of Frye Maureen 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp., in the dynamic environment Frye Maureen has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Frye Maureen has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp., it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Frye Maureen 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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. 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 Frye Maureen 's lucrative customers.




Opportunities Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. | 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 Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. are -

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Frye Maureen can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Frye Maureen 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 Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Frye Maureen to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Frye Maureen 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Frye Maureen 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.

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. Frye Maureen 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. Frye Maureen can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Frye Maureen is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Frye Maureen 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. Frye Maureen 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 Frye Maureen 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Frye Maureen to increase its market reach. Frye Maureen 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.

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. Frye Maureen can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

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 Frye Maureen in the consumer business. Now Frye Maureen can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Loyalty marketing

– Frye Maureen 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.




Threats Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. are -

Increasing wage structure of Frye Maureen

– 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 Frye Maureen.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Frye Maureen 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 Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. .

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 Frye Maureen business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Frye Maureen 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Frye Maureen 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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Frye Maureen 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.

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.

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. Frye Maureen can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Frye Maureen high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp., Frye Maureen may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .

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. Frye Maureen 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.

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 Frye Maureen.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. 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 Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. 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 Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. 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 Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. 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 Maureen Frye at Quaker Steel and Alloy Corp. 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 Frye Maureen needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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