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 - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , 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 -
Innovation driven organization
– Mas Apparel is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Mas Apparel 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Mas Apparel digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Mas Apparel 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.
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.
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 -
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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Story Jonathan, Watson Noshua suggests that, Mas Apparel 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Mas Apparel 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 MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry 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 Mas Apparel has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Mas Apparel 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 - MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Mas Apparel 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Mas Apparel can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
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.
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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Mas Apparel 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.
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. Mas Apparel can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Mas Apparel 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.
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. Mas Apparel 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. Mas Apparel can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Threats 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.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mas Apparel 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.
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.
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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Mas Apparel 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study MAS Holdings: Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility in the Apparel Industry, Mas Apparel 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 .
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.
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.
