MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A)
MacAfee Building Supply, a distributor of building supplies and heating and plumbing products, had grown to become the largest company of its kind in the world by incentivizing profit-maximizing behavior at the local level. John Smith, a senior manager at the company's Build subdivision, had nevertheless grown concerned that MacAfee's incentive scheme, which incentivized profits at the branch level, was actually hindering long-term global profitability by creating a lack of cooperation among branches and discouraging branch manager's investment in long-term endeavors. In this three-part case students first recommend strategies for better aligning employees to a long-term focus, and then evaluate the results of the program the company selected.
Authors :: Ann Bartel, Rachel Griffith, Maria Guadalupe, Andrew Neely
Swot Analysis of "MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A)" written by Ann Bartel, Rachel Griffith, Maria Guadalupe, Andrew Neely includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Macafee Branch facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Balanced scorecard, Employee retention, Motivating people and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Macafee Branch, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Macafee Branch 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Macafee Branch
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 Macafee Branch
Strengths MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Macafee Branch in MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Macafee Branch 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 Ann Bartel, Rachel Griffith, Maria Guadalupe, Andrew Neely 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Macafee Branch digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Macafee Branch 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Macafee Branch has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Macafee Branch 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Macafee Branch is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Macafee Branch is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Macafee Branch to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Macafee Branch to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Macafee Branch has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Macafee Branch is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Macafee Branch has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Macafee Branch to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Macafee Branch 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 Macafee Branch in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Macafee Branch 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Macafee Branch 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, Ann Bartel, Rachel Griffith, Maria Guadalupe, Andrew Neely suggests that, Macafee Branch 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Macafee Branch 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A), in the dynamic environment Macafee Branch has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Macafee Branch has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Macafee Branch is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A), 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) 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 Macafee Branch 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Macafee Branch has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Macafee Branch 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Macafee Branch 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Macafee Branch 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. Macafee Branch 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.
Opportunities MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) | 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Macafee Branch 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Macafee Branch 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Macafee Branch to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Macafee Branch has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Macafee Branch to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) case study. Macafee Branch can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Macafee Branch 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 Macafee Branch to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Macafee Branch 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Macafee Branch 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 Macafee Branch 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.
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 Macafee Branch in the consumer business. Now Macafee Branch can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Macafee Branch 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. Macafee Branch 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.
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. Macafee Branch can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Macafee Branch 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Macafee Branch 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, MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Macafee Branch 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Macafee Branch with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Macafee Branch has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Macafee Branch 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.
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. Macafee Branch needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Macafee Branch business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Macafee Branch 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.
Environmental challenges
– Macafee Branch 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. Macafee Branch can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Macafee Branch 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 Macafee Branch 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Macafee Branch 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) .
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Macafee Branch 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.
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. Macafee Branch 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A), Macafee Branch 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) 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 MacAfee Building Supply: Improving Performance Across Retail Stores (A) 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 Macafee Branch needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.