MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry
MAS Holdings is a family-owned manufacturer of women's apparel, founded by three brothers who have built the firm into a US$570 million business. Clients include the biggest brands in lingerie and sportswear. The textile industry makes up 50% of Sri Lankan exports, especially from China. The case is about using corporate social responsibility as a strategic tool in global competition.
Swot Analysis of "MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry" written by Story Jonathan, Watson Noshua includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mas Apparel facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Emerging markets, Social responsibility, Strategy, Supply chain and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mas Apparel, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mas Apparel 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 MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mas Apparel
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 Mas Apparel
Strengths MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mas Apparel in MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Mas Apparel 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 Mas Apparel is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mas Apparel to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mas Apparel to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Mas Apparel 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 MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry - 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 Mas Apparel
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mas Apparel does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mas Apparel 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 MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Mas Apparel has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry 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.
Analytics focus
– Mas Apparel 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 Story Jonathan, Watson Noshua can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Strong track record of project management
– Mas Apparel is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Mas Apparel has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Mas Apparel to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Mas Apparel 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 Mas Apparel in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Mas Apparel has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mas Apparel has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Mas Apparel 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.
Weaknesses MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Mas Apparel has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Mas Apparel 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 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 Mas Apparel supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Mas Apparel vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry, 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry 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 Mas Apparel 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Mas Apparel 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 MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry, in the dynamic environment Mas Apparel has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Mas Apparel has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Mas Apparel has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Mas Apparel even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Mas Apparel is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry 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
Mas Apparel 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry 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 MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Mas Apparel is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry | 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 MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Mas Apparel 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Mas Apparel has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Mas Apparel to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry case study. Mas Apparel can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mas Apparel can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mas Apparel operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Mas Apparel can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Mas Apparel 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 Mas Apparel can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mas Apparel 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Mas Apparel 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, MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Mas Apparel 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 Mas Apparel to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Mas Apparel can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Mas Apparel 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 MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Mas Apparel to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Mas Apparel in the consumer business. Now Mas Apparel can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Mas Apparel 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.
Threats MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry are -
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 Mas Apparel business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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 Mas Apparel.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Mas Apparel 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 Mas Apparel in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Mas Apparel has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mas Apparel 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.
Environmental challenges
– Mas Apparel 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. Mas Apparel can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Mas Apparel 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 Mas Apparel is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Mas Apparel 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Mas Apparel 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.
Increasing wage structure of Mas Apparel
– 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 Mas Apparel.
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. Mas Apparel needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry 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 MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry 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 MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry 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 MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry 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 MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry 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 Mas Apparel needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.