Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette
P&G had used its purpose, values, and principles (PVP) to prepare for the physical integration of Gillette prior to the change of control. The execution of these plans posed numerous challenges in global business units as well as in individual country organizations. While managers sought to maintain business momentum during the transition, corporate leaders were intent on continuing to use Gillette as a catalyst of change.
Swot Analysis of "Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette" written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Matthew Bird includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Gillette Pvp facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Manufacturing and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Gillette Pvp, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Gillette Pvp 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 Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Gillette Pvp
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 Gillette Pvp
Strengths Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Gillette Pvp in Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Gillette Pvp digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Gillette Pvp 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Gillette Pvp 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 Gillette Pvp in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Gillette Pvp 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 Gillette Pvp is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Gillette Pvp is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Gillette Pvp in the sector have low bargaining power. Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Gillette Pvp to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Gillette Pvp has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Gillette Pvp to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Gillette Pvp in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Gillette Pvp is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Gillette Pvp 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 Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Matthew Bird 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Gillette Pvp has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Gillette Pvp 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Gillette Pvp 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Gillette Pvp is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette 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.
Weaknesses Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Gillette Pvp products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Gillette Pvp needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette 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 Gillette Pvp has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Gillette Pvp, firm in the HBR case study Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Gillette Pvp 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Gillette Pvp 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 - Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette 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 Gillette Pvp 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Gillette Pvp is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Gillette Pvp needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Gillette Pvp to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette, 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette, it seems that the employees of Gillette Pvp 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette, in the dynamic environment Gillette Pvp has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Gillette Pvp has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Gillette Pvp needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Opportunities Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette | 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 Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette are -
Manufacturing automation
– Gillette Pvp 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Gillette Pvp 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Gillette Pvp 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 Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Gillette Pvp to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Gillette Pvp to increase its market reach. Gillette Pvp 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Gillette Pvp has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Gillette Pvp to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette case study. Gillette Pvp can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Gillette Pvp 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Gillette Pvp 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Gillette Pvp can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette 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.
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. Gillette Pvp can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Gillette Pvp 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Gillette Pvp 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Gillette Pvp 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, Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Gillette Pvp can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Gillette Pvp operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Threats Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette are -
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Gillette Pvp in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Gillette Pvp has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Gillette Pvp 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Gillette Pvp 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Gillette Pvp 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette, Gillette Pvp 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.
Environmental challenges
– Gillette Pvp 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. Gillette Pvp can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Gillette Pvp 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.
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. Gillette Pvp needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Gillette Pvp
– 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 Gillette Pvp.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Gillette Pvp 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Gillette Pvp 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.
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. Gillette Pvp can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette 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 Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette 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 Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette 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 Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette 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 Procter & Gamble in the 21st Century (C): Integrating Gillette 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 Gillette Pvp needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.