Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story
Jane Kravitz (Caucasian female), strategic product manager, and Lyndon Twitchell (African American male), a member of her staff at Jensen Shoes, a successful producer and marketer of casual, athletic, and children's footwear, are assigned to new positions and to each other at the start of the story. Presents their very different points of view on their first couple of months working together. Can be taught in a variety of ways: with all students receiving both cases; half receiving one and half receiving the other; or a third of the class receiving both, one third receiving one, and one third receiving the other (as is appropriate). Should be used with Jenson Shoes: Lyndon Twitchell's Story.
Swot Analysis of "Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story" written by Mary Gentile, Pamela J. Maus includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Receiving Jensen facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Communication, Diversity, Gender, Market research and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Receiving Jensen, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Receiving Jensen 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 Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Receiving Jensen
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 Receiving Jensen
Strengths Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Receiving Jensen in Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Receiving Jensen has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Receiving Jensen has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Receiving Jensen 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Receiving Jensen is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Receiving Jensen is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story 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 Receiving Jensen 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.
Learning organization
- Receiving Jensen 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 Receiving Jensen is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Receiving Jensen to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Receiving Jensen to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Receiving Jensen in the sector have low bargaining power. Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Receiving Jensen to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Receiving Jensen is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Receiving Jensen 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 Mary Gentile, Pamela J. Maus 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Receiving Jensen is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Receiving Jensen digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Receiving Jensen 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 Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story, is just above the industry average. Receiving Jensen 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story, in the dynamic environment Receiving Jensen has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Receiving Jensen has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story 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 Receiving Jensen 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Receiving Jensen is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Receiving Jensen needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Receiving Jensen to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Receiving Jensen 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Receiving Jensen, firm in the HBR case study Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Receiving Jensen 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Mary Gentile, Pamela J. Maus suggests that, Receiving Jensen 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story 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 Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Receiving Jensen is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Receiving Jensen 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Receiving Jensen is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story | 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 Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Receiving Jensen has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Receiving Jensen to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story case study. Receiving Jensen can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Receiving Jensen 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.
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. Receiving Jensen can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Receiving Jensen 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Receiving Jensen 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 Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Receiving Jensen to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Receiving Jensen 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 Receiving Jensen to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Receiving Jensen 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Receiving Jensen 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, Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Receiving Jensen 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Receiving Jensen 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Receiving Jensen 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Receiving Jensen can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Receiving Jensen operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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 Receiving Jensen 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.
Threats Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Receiving Jensen has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Receiving Jensen 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Receiving Jensen 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 Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Receiving Jensen 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Receiving Jensen is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Receiving Jensen business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Receiving Jensen in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Receiving Jensen 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.
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. Receiving Jensen can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Receiving Jensen 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. Receiving Jensen can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story, Receiving Jensen 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 .
Increasing wage structure of Receiving Jensen
– 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 Receiving Jensen.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story 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 Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story 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 Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story 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 Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story 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 Jensen Shoes: Jane Kravitz's Story 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 Receiving Jensen needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
