Swot Analysis of "Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C)" written by Linda A. Hill, Kristin C. Doughty includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Jeanne Staples facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Communication, Gender, Influence, Leadership, Leading teams, Marketing, Succession planning and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Jeanne Staples, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Jeanne Staples 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 Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Jeanne Staples
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 Jeanne Staples
Strengths Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Jeanne Staples in Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Jeanne Staples 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.
Training and development
– Jeanne Staples has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) 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.
High brand equity
– Jeanne Staples has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Jeanne Staples to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Jeanne Staples to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Jeanne Staples to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Jeanne Staples is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Jeanne Staples is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Jeanne Staples in the sector have low bargaining power. Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Jeanne Staples to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Jeanne Staples 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 Linda A. Hill, Kristin C. Doughty 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.
Learning organization
- Jeanne Staples 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 Jeanne Staples is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Jeanne Staples is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Jeanne Staples
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Jeanne Staples does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Jeanne Staples products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Jeanne Staples needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C), it seems that the employees of Jeanne Staples 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.
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 Jeanne Staples supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Jeanne Staples vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Jeanne Staples has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Jeanne Staples has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) HBR case study mentions - Jeanne Staples 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) 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 Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Jeanne Staples is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Jeanne Staples 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 Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) 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 Jeanne Staples 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Jeanne Staples 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C), in the dynamic environment Jeanne Staples has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Jeanne Staples has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) | 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 Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) are -
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 Jeanne Staples in the consumer business. Now Jeanne Staples can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Jeanne Staples 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Jeanne Staples 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 Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Jeanne Staples 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, Jeanne Staples 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Jeanne Staples 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Jeanne Staples 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Jeanne Staples can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Jeanne Staples is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Jeanne Staples can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Jeanne Staples operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Jeanne Staples has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Jeanne Staples to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) case study. Jeanne Staples can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Jeanne Staples 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. Jeanne Staples 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Jeanne Staples can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) 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.
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. Jeanne Staples can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) are -
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 Jeanne Staples in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Jeanne Staples needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Jeanne Staples can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Jeanne Staples 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.
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 Jeanne Staples.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Jeanne Staples 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 Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Jeanne Staples 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.
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.
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 Jeanne Staples business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Jeanne Staples can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Increasing wage structure of Jeanne Staples
– 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 Jeanne Staples.
Environmental challenges
– Jeanne Staples 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. Jeanne Staples can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) 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 Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) 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 Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) 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 Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) 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 Jeanne Lewis at Staples, Inc. (C) 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 Jeanne Staples needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.