On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
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Case Study Description of On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr.
Alan B. Graf, Jr., is executive vice-president and chief financial officer at FedEx Corp. FedEx Corp. is comprised of multiple operating companies, with the core companies being FedEx Express, FedEx Ground, FedEx Freight, and FedEx Kinko's. Collectively, FedEx provides transportation, e-commerce, and business services globally. The Memphis, Tennessee-based corporation moves more than 5.5 million packages daily, serving more than 215 countries and territories. The corporation is comprised of more than 250,000 employees and contractors worldwide and maintains approximately 663 aircraft and over 71,000 ground vehicles. Graf joined FedEx Express, the predecessor to FedEx Corp., in 1980 as a senior financial analyst and has held a variety of management positions in the Finance division during his tenure with FedEx. His current responsibilities involve oversight of corporate global financial functions, including financial planning, treasury, tax, accounting and controls, internal audit, and corporate development. Graf is responsible for the financial activities of the corporation's core operating companies and also serves on FedEx Corp.'s Executive Committee, which is charged with the planning and implementation of FedEx Corp.'s strategic business activities. A native of Indiana, Graf graduated from the Kelley School of Business, Indiana University, with both a bachelor's and Master of Business Administration degree. He remains active with the Kelley School of Business, where he serves on the Dean's Advisory Council and was honored with membership in the Academy of Alumni Fellows in 2004. Graf holds three board memberships that include NIKE, Inc., Kimball International, Inc., and Mid-America Apartment Communities, Inc. He also serves on the Advisory Board for the University of Memphis Tiger Cubs.
Swot Analysis of "On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr." written by Catherine M. Dalton includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Fedex Graf facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing commodity prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr.
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Fedex Graf, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Fedex Graf 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 On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Fedex Graf
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 Fedex Graf
Strengths On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Fedex Graf in On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Fedex Graf is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Fedex Graf 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Fedex Graf has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Fedex Graf 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Fedex Graf is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– Fedex Graf has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Fedex Graf 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
– On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Fedex Graf to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Fedex Graf to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Fedex Graf 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 On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Fedex Graf is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Organizational Resilience of Fedex Graf
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Fedex Graf does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Fedex Graf 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 On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Fedex Graf digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Fedex Graf 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.
Weaknesses On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. are -
Need for greater diversity
– Fedex Graf 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr., 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Fedex Graf is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. HBR case study mentions - Fedex Graf 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Fedex Graf, firm in the HBR case study On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr., is just above the industry average. Fedex Graf 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Fedex Graf is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Fedex Graf needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Fedex Graf to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. 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 Fedex Graf has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. 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 On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Fedex Graf is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. 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 Fedex Graf 's lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Fedex Graf 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.
Opportunities On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. | 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 On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. are -
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. Fedex Graf can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Fedex Graf can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Fedex Graf 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 Fedex Graf to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Fedex Graf 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Fedex Graf in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Fedex Graf can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Fedex Graf operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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. Fedex Graf 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. Fedex Graf can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Fedex Graf is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. 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.
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. Fedex Graf 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 Fedex Graf 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
– Fedex Graf 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Fedex Graf 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, On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr., to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– Fedex Graf has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Threats On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. 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 Fedex Graf in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Fedex Graf
– 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 Fedex Graf.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Fedex Graf 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Fedex Graf is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Fedex Graf in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr., Fedex Graf 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 .
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Fedex Graf with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Fedex Graf needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Fedex Graf has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Fedex Graf 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. Fedex Graf can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Fedex Graf 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. 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 On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. 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 On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. 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 On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. 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 On Time, All of the Time: An Interview with FedEx Corp.'s Alan B. Graf, Jr. 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 Fedex Graf needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.