QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS
The case describes the situation of over a hundred years old, family-owned, and male-managed business group - Qadri-Group (QG). QG was facing challenges in family's interplay with the group's business. Meanwhile QG also foresaw several new business opportunities and challenges in domestic and international markets that required greater focus and harmony among the family members and group companies. QG's Board of Directors (BoD) felt that a unanimously formulated Family Constitution was needed to manage the increasing complexity in the family and ownership, as the group ventured out to benefit from the emerging business landscape. Rizwan, a third generation family member of the BoD, initiated and advocated the idea of developing a family constitution as soon as possible to address the complex and lingering matters that the family faced. Rizwan appreciated that the challenges related to involvement of the family's fourth generation in the business and ownership would complicate the situation in subsequent years, during which more challenges related to QG business were also anticipated. He took on the responsibility to provide suggestions on how to govern increased family complexity (in terms of diversity of educational backgrounds, allocation of incentives to family members according to their profiles, involvement of daughters and their in-laws in QG's business etc.) and business complexity. Rizwan Qadri hoped that his suggestions related to the formulation of the family constitution would help address the following issues: 1. clarity on the issue of employment of daughters and daughters-in-law in the business 2. involvement of in-laws (unrelated by blood) in the family business 3. compensation for family members; competitive and merit based career planning Also he had to give suggestions for the process to be followed for arriving at a mutually agreed family constitution.
Authors :: Muhammad Shakeel Sadiq Jajja, Syed Zahoor Hassan
Swot Analysis of "QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS" written by Muhammad Shakeel Sadiq Jajja, Syed Zahoor Hassan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Family Qg facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Managing people and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Family Qg, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Family Qg 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 QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Family Qg
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 Family Qg
Strengths QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Family Qg in QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Family Qg 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 Muhammad Shakeel Sadiq Jajja, Syed Zahoor Hassan 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 Family Qg digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Family Qg 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Family Qg in the sector have low bargaining power. QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Family Qg to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Family Qg has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Family Qg to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Family Qg 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 QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS 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 Family Qg 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Family Qg is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Family Qg is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Family Qg in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Family Qg 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 QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Family Qg to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Family Qg to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Family Qg is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Family Qg 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 - QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS HBR case study mentions - Family Qg 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS, it seems that the employees of Family Qg 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Family Qg 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Family Qg 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Family Qg is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Family Qg needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Family Qg to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Family Qg 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. Family Qg 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Family Qg products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Family Qg needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS, 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS 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 QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Family Qg is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS 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 Family Qg has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS | 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 QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Family Qg 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Family Qg 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Family Qg 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 Family Qg to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Family Qg can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Family Qg 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Family Qg 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Family Qg is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS 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.
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 Family Qg in the consumer business. Now Family Qg can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Family Qg 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, QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Family Qg can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Family Qg 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.
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. Family Qg can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Family Qg 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. Family Qg 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 QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS are -
Environmental challenges
– Family Qg 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. Family Qg can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Family Qg 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
– Family Qg 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 Family Qg 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.
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 Family Qg business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Family Qg with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Family Qg 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS, Family Qg 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 .
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. Family Qg needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Family Qg 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Family Qg 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Family Qg 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 QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS 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 QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS 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 QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS 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 QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS 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 QADRI-GROUP: SUSTAINING BEYOND THE FIRST 100 YEARS 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 Family Qg needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.