Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service
In January 2010, U. S. luxury goods retailer Raleigh & Rosse is being sued by its employees for encouraging "off the clock" hours. At the center of the class action lawsuit is the famous Raleigh & Rosse performance measurement system previously thought to be the core of the retailer's success. The system uses a sales-per-hour model to reward salespeople for time well spent on the floor. However, in this industry, where strong customer service is essential, many sales representatives feel they are encouraged to spend time off the clock tending to client needs; this issue and others have led to consequences that the company did not envision. The case illustrates how rapid company growth, decentralized management, and unrelenting pressure to perform can distort performance measurement systems and lead to undesirable consequences.
Swot Analysis of "Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service" written by Robert L. Simons, Michael Mahoney includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Rosse Raleigh facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Compensation, Corporate governance, Customers, Labor, Motivating people, Organizational culture, Performance measurement, Strategic planning and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Rosse Raleigh, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Rosse Raleigh 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 Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Rosse Raleigh
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 Rosse Raleigh
Strengths Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Rosse Raleigh in Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Rosse Raleigh is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Rosse Raleigh to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Rosse Raleigh to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Rosse Raleigh 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 Robert L. Simons, Michael Mahoney can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Rosse Raleigh 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 Rosse Raleigh in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Rosse Raleigh digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Rosse Raleigh 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Rosse Raleigh in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Rosse Raleigh 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 Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Rosse Raleigh is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Rosse Raleigh in the sector have low bargaining power. Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Rosse Raleigh to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Rosse Raleigh 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 Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Rosse Raleigh 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Rosse Raleigh has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Rosse Raleigh 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.
Weaknesses Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service 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 Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Rosse Raleigh is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Rosse Raleigh, firm in the HBR case study Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Rosse Raleigh 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service 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 Rosse Raleigh 's lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Rosse Raleigh is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Rosse Raleigh 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Rosse Raleigh 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 Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service 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 Rosse Raleigh has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service HBR case study mentions - Rosse Raleigh 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service, is just above the industry average. Rosse Raleigh 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Rosse Raleigh 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.
Opportunities Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service | 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 Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Rosse Raleigh can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Rosse Raleigh operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Rosse Raleigh 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 Rosse Raleigh to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Rosse Raleigh can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Rosse Raleigh 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Rosse Raleigh 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Rosse Raleigh has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Rosse Raleigh to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service case study. Rosse Raleigh can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Rosse Raleigh in the consumer business. Now Rosse Raleigh can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Rosse Raleigh 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Rosse Raleigh 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 Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Rosse Raleigh to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Rosse Raleigh 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. Rosse Raleigh 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Rosse Raleigh can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Rosse Raleigh 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.
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. Rosse Raleigh can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Rosse Raleigh 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Rosse Raleigh 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 Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service .
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. Rosse Raleigh 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 Rosse Raleigh is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service, Rosse Raleigh 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 .
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 Rosse Raleigh in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Rosse Raleigh business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Rosse Raleigh 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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Rosse Raleigh 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.
Environmental challenges
– Rosse Raleigh 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. Rosse Raleigh can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Rosse Raleigh with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Rosse Raleigh.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service 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 Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service 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 Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service 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 Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service 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 Raleigh & Rosse: Measures to Motivate Exceptional Service 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 Rosse Raleigh needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.