Case Study Description of Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop
The founder and CEO of Veranda Brands, a designer and marketer of home furnishing products, is preparing to coach three department managers so that they are ready to work well in a growing organization. Through staff layoffs, the company (founded in 2002) survived the 2008 financial crisis and actually increased the founder's personal investment. The company has since grown to $8 million in sales and its staff has grown to 50 employees (2012). To continue this growth and progress to the next level, the company's top employees need to function at a higher level which can be reached through targeted coaching.
Swot Analysis of "Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop" written by Jane M. Howell, Ken Mark includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Veranda Coaching facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Strategy, Talent management and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices,
there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Veranda Coaching, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Veranda Coaching 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 Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Veranda Coaching
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 Veranda Coaching
Strengths Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Veranda Coaching in Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Veranda Coaching has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Veranda Coaching to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Veranda Coaching is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Veranda Coaching 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 Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Veranda Coaching in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Veranda Coaching digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Veranda Coaching 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Veranda Coaching 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.
Training and development
– Veranda Coaching has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Veranda Coaching to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Veranda Coaching to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Veranda Coaching is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Veranda Coaching
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Veranda Coaching does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Veranda Coaching in the sector have low bargaining power. Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Veranda Coaching to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Veranda Coaching has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Veranda Coaching 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jane M. Howell, Ken Mark suggests that, Veranda Coaching 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop 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 Veranda Coaching 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Veranda Coaching 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 - Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop, is just above the industry average. Veranda Coaching 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop HBR case study mentions - Veranda Coaching 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 Veranda Coaching supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Veranda Coaching vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Veranda Coaching products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Veranda Coaching needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Veranda Coaching is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Veranda Coaching needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Veranda Coaching to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop, in the dynamic environment Veranda Coaching has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Veranda Coaching has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop 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 Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Veranda Coaching is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop | 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 Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Veranda Coaching can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Veranda Coaching operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Veranda Coaching 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Veranda Coaching to increase its market reach. Veranda Coaching 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Veranda Coaching 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Veranda Coaching 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Veranda Coaching can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Veranda Coaching in the consumer business. Now Veranda Coaching can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Veranda Coaching 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.
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. Veranda Coaching 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. Veranda Coaching 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.
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. Veranda Coaching can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Veranda Coaching can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Veranda Coaching 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Veranda Coaching 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, Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop are -
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.
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. Veranda Coaching can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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. Veranda Coaching 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Veranda Coaching 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Veranda Coaching with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Veranda Coaching in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Veranda Coaching 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Veranda Coaching 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.
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 Veranda Coaching business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Veranda Coaching is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Veranda Coaching 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 Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop .
Environmental challenges
– Veranda Coaching 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. Veranda Coaching can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop 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 Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop 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 Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop 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 Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop 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 Veranda Brands: Developing and Coaching Talent Workshop 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 Veranda Coaching needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
