Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry
In the early 1980s, the Swiss watch industry was near collapse after failing to adapt to Japanese competition from battery-powered quartz technology. In 1982, Jean-Claude Biver purchased Blancpain, a watch company that had been out of business since 1961 but had once made mechanical watches, for $16,000. After successfully reviving Blancpain, Biver sold the company to Nicolas G. Hayek (Chairman of the Swatch Group) for $43 million a decade later. Hayek agreed to have Biver stay on and gave him responsibility to revive the once venerable, but ailing, watch company Omega. Between 1995 and 1999, Biver led another turnaround effort that increased Omega's revenues from $350 million to $900 million. While it was presumed across the industry that Biver would be the next CEO of Swatch Group, in early 2000 Biver began to sense that he may not receive the top position when Hayek retired. At the end of the case, Biver must decide whether he should leave the Swatch Group and retire himself, or possibly start over yet again and take the reins of a small but struggling watch company, Hublot. The case examines the actions that Biver took to transform Blancpain and Omega, and how his broad vision ultimately transformed the entire Swiss watch industry. It presents Biver as a complex leader who at times could be very harsh on his employees, but whose passion and vision engendered fierce loyalty from those who worked with him.
Swot Analysis of "Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry" written by Ryan Raffaelli includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Biver Watch facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Organizational culture and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Biver Watch, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Biver Watch 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 Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Biver Watch
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 Biver Watch
Strengths Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Biver Watch in Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Biver Watch to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Biver Watch to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Biver Watch is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Biver Watch in the sector have low bargaining power. Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Biver Watch to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Biver Watch is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry 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 Biver Watch
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Biver Watch does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Biver Watch has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Biver Watch 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry 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.
High brand equity
– Biver Watch has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Biver Watch to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Biver Watch 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 Ryan Raffaelli 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Biver Watch 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Biver Watch 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Biver Watch in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry, in the dynamic environment Biver Watch has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Biver Watch has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Biver Watch is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry, is just above the industry average. Biver Watch 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Biver Watch 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 Biver Watch is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Biver Watch needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Biver Watch to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Biver Watch, firm in the HBR case study Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Biver Watch 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 dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Biver Watch supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Biver Watch vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Biver Watch has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry 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 Biver Watch 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry, it seems that the employees of Biver Watch 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.
Opportunities Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry | 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 Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry are -
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. Biver Watch 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. Biver Watch 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Biver Watch 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Biver Watch can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Biver Watch can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Biver Watch operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Biver Watch 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Biver Watch 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.
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. Biver Watch can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Biver Watch is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Biver Watch 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 Biver Watch 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 Biver Watch to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Biver Watch to increase its market reach. Biver Watch will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Biver Watch 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Biver Watch has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Biver Watch to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry case study. Biver Watch can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry are -
Increasing wage structure of Biver Watch
– 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 Biver Watch.
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. Biver Watch 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Biver Watch 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 Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry .
Regulatory challenges
– Biver Watch needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Biver Watch with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Environmental challenges
– Biver Watch 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. Biver Watch can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry, Biver Watch 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 .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Biver Watch 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.
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. Biver Watch can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Biver Watch has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Biver Watch 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.
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.
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 Biver Watch business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Biver Watch.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry 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 Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry 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 Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry 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 Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry 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 Jean-Claude Biver (A): The Reemergence of the Swiss Watch Industry 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 Biver Watch needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.