Case Study Description of Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals
Julia Brown, toy buyer for the Hightower Department Stores, has to decide which of three imported stuffed animals will be offered for sale by the 16 Hightower stores during the approaching Christmas shopping season. The case is appropriately used as an introduction to the concepts of least squares and regression analysis. A linear relationship between realized and test-market sales can be used to forecast the sales potential of the three proposed animals, and an explicit treatment of the uncertainty in this forecast is necessary in order to decide how many of each adopted animal to order.
Swot Analysis of "Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals" written by Phillip E. Pfeifer includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hightower Animals facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial analysis, Forecasting, Managing uncertainty, Market research and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hightower Animals, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hightower Animals 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 Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hightower Animals
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 Hightower Animals
Strengths Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hightower Animals in Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Hightower Animals digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Hightower Animals 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Hightower Animals to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Hightower Animals to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Hightower Animals is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals 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.
Learning organization
- Hightower Animals 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 Hightower Animals is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Hightower Animals is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Hightower Animals in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Hightower Animals 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 Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Hightower Animals has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Hightower Animals is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals 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
– Hightower Animals has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Hightower Animals to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Hightower Animals in the sector have low bargaining power. Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Hightower Animals to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Hightower Animals has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Hightower Animals 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 Hightower Animals 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.
Weaknesses Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Hightower Animals needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Phillip E. Pfeifer suggests that, Hightower Animals 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Hightower Animals 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals HBR case study mentions - Hightower Animals 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Hightower Animals is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Hightower Animals needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Hightower Animals to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals 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 Hightower Animals 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals, is just above the industry average. Hightower Animals 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Hightower Animals 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 - Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals, it seems that the employees of Hightower Animals 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals 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 Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Hightower Animals is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Hightower Animals is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals 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 Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals | 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 Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Hightower Animals 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
– Hightower Animals 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Hightower Animals 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, Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Hightower Animals can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Hightower Animals is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Hightower Animals 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 Hightower Animals 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Hightower Animals 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 Hightower Animals to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Hightower Animals in the consumer business. Now Hightower Animals can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Hightower Animals 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 Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Hightower Animals to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Hightower Animals 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Hightower Animals can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Hightower Animals can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals are -
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 Hightower Animals.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals, Hightower Animals 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Hightower Animals is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Hightower Animals can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Hightower Animals 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. Hightower Animals can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Hightower Animals 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.
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 Hightower Animals in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Hightower Animals has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Hightower Animals 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Hightower Animals with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Hightower Animals 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 Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals .
Increasing wage structure of Hightower Animals
– 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 Hightower Animals.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals 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 Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals 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 Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals 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 Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals 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 Hightower Department Stores: Imported Stuffed Animals 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 Hightower Animals needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.