Diverse Industries International SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Diverse Industries International
The operations manager at Diverse Industries International's plant needs to make a decision regarding a restructuring of the plant's Automatic Dishwasher Gel production line. The restructuring suggestion which included replacing a loading table with a lift conveyor and hopper system, came from the company's industrial equipment contractor who hoped to sell them some used production equipment. The operations manager, while he was fairly sure the investment was a good idea, was concerned about how he could best justify the cost to the finance department and, if approved, how he could reallocate direct labor on the line to maximize efficiency.
Swot Analysis of "Diverse Industries International" written by John S. Haywood-Farmer, Tim Tattersall includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Diverse Dishwasher facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Diverse Industries International case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Diverse Industries International casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Diverse Industries International
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Diverse Industries International case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Diverse Dishwasher, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Diverse Dishwasher 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 Diverse Industries International can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Diverse Industries International case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Diverse Dishwasher
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 Diverse Dishwasher
Strengths Diverse Industries International | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Diverse Dishwasher in Diverse Industries International Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Diverse Dishwasher has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Diverse Industries International 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.
Analytics focus
– Diverse Dishwasher 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 John S. Haywood-Farmer, Tim Tattersall 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Diverse Dishwasher 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 Diverse Dishwasher in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Diverse Dishwasher 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Diverse Dishwasher has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Diverse Dishwasher 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Diverse Dishwasher is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Diverse Dishwasher 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 Diverse Dishwasher is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Diverse Industries International Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Diverse Industries International firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Diverse Dishwasher to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Diverse Dishwasher to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Diverse Dishwasher in the sector have low bargaining power. Diverse Industries International has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Diverse Dishwasher to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Diverse Dishwasher is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Diverse Industries International 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Diverse Dishwasher in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Diverse Dishwasher 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 Diverse Industries International HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Diverse Industries International | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Diverse Industries International are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Diverse Industries International 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 Diverse Dishwasher has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Diverse Dishwasher 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 Diverse Dishwasher 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 - Diverse Industries International should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Diverse Industries International 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 Diverse Industries International can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Diverse Dishwasher is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Diverse Dishwasher 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, John S. Haywood-Farmer, Tim Tattersall suggests that, Diverse Dishwasher 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Diverse Industries International HBR case study mentions - Diverse Dishwasher 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.
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 Diverse Dishwasher supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Diverse Industries International, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Diverse Dishwasher vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Diverse Dishwasher is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Diverse Dishwasher needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Diverse Dishwasher to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Diverse Dishwasher has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Diverse Dishwasher even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Diverse Dishwasher, firm in the HBR case study Diverse Industries International needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Diverse Industries International | 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 Diverse Industries International are -
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 Diverse Dishwasher 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Diverse Dishwasher 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.
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. Diverse Dishwasher can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Diverse Dishwasher 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Diverse Dishwasher 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, Diverse Industries International, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Diverse Dishwasher has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Diverse Dishwasher to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Diverse Industries International case study. Diverse Dishwasher can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Diverse Dishwasher 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 Diverse Industries International - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Diverse Dishwasher to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Diverse Dishwasher 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.
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. Diverse Dishwasher can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Diverse Dishwasher in the consumer business. Now Diverse Dishwasher can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Diverse Dishwasher can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Diverse Dishwasher is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Diverse Industries International 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Diverse Dishwasher 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.
Threats Diverse Industries International External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Diverse Industries International are -
Regulatory challenges
– Diverse Dishwasher 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.
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. Diverse Dishwasher 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 wage structure of Diverse Dishwasher
– 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 Diverse Dishwasher.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Diverse Dishwasher with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Diverse Dishwasher can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Diverse Dishwasher 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 Diverse Dishwasher business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Diverse Dishwasher 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 Diverse Industries International .
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 Diverse Dishwasher in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Diverse Dishwasher 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.
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 Diverse Dishwasher.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Diverse Dishwasher has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Diverse Dishwasher 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.
Environmental challenges
– Diverse Dishwasher 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. Diverse Dishwasher can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Diverse Industries International 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 Diverse Industries International 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 Diverse Industries International 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 Diverse Industries International 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 Diverse Industries International 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 Diverse Dishwasher needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
