In less than two years, the founders' innovative model for addressing last-mile challenges in an online grocery retailing operation was working. Although still consuming cash, the three-month-old pilot expansion to another city was experiencing three-digit monthly sales growth. To date, the company had followed a philosophy of low-cost experimentation, as it explored terrain that had been inhospitable to its predecessors. But now Relay needed to make some changes in its operations strategy.
Swot Analysis of "RelayFoods.com" written by Tim Laseter includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Relayfoods.com Inhospitable facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in RelayFoods.com case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Operations management, Sales and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the RelayFoods.com casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, geopolitical disruptions,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in RelayFoods.com case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Relayfoods.com Inhospitable, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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 RelayFoods.com can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in RelayFoods.com case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Relayfoods.com Inhospitable
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 Relayfoods.com Inhospitable
Strengths RelayFoods.com | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Relayfoods.com Inhospitable in RelayFoods.com Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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 Relayfoods.com Inhospitable in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Relayfoods.com Inhospitable digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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.
High brand equity
– Relayfoods.com Inhospitable has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Relayfoods.com Inhospitable to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Relayfoods.com Inhospitable is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the RelayFoods.com 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– RelayFoods.com firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Relayfoods.com Inhospitable to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Relayfoods.com Inhospitable to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Relayfoods.com Inhospitable
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Relayfoods.com Inhospitable does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Relayfoods.com Inhospitable is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in RelayFoods.com 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Relayfoods.com Inhospitable is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the RelayFoods.com are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Relayfoods.com Inhospitable has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in RelayFoods.com 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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
– Relayfoods.com Inhospitable has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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.
Weaknesses RelayFoods.com | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of RelayFoods.com are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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 - RelayFoods.com should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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 star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the RelayFoods.com 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 Relayfoods.com Inhospitable has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study RelayFoods.com, 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study RelayFoods.com, is just above the industry average. Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Relayfoods.com Inhospitable is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study RelayFoods.com can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study RelayFoods.com 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 Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 's lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Tim Laseter suggests that, Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Relayfoods.com Inhospitable is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Relayfoods.com Inhospitable needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Relayfoods.com Inhospitable to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study RelayFoods.com 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 RelayFoods.com can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Relayfoods.com Inhospitable is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities RelayFoods.com | 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 RelayFoods.com are -
Loyalty marketing
– Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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.
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 Relayfoods.com Inhospitable in the consumer business. Now Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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 Relayfoods.com Inhospitable can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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 RelayFoods.com - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Relayfoods.com Inhospitable to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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. Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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 Relayfoods.com Inhospitable to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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, RelayFoods.com, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Relayfoods.com Inhospitable can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. RelayFoods.com 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Relayfoods.com Inhospitable can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Threats RelayFoods.com External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study RelayFoods.com are -
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 Relayfoods.com Inhospitable business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Relayfoods.com Inhospitable
– 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 Relayfoods.com Inhospitable.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Relayfoods.com Inhospitable has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study RelayFoods.com, Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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 .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Relayfoods.com Inhospitable with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Environmental challenges
– Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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. Relayfoods.com Inhospitable can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Relayfoods.com Inhospitable 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 Relayfoods.com Inhospitable is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Relayfoods.com Inhospitable in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of RelayFoods.com 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 RelayFoods.com 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 RelayFoods.com 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 RelayFoods.com 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 RelayFoods.com 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 Relayfoods.com Inhospitable needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
