Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment
Ruffian Kelowna, one of 19 British Columbia Ruffian Apparel locations, is under performing. Recent management turnover and low unemployment in the region have left Kelowna short-staffed and in need of a new store manager to take over for the interim manager. Both sales and performance results are far below acceptable levels, and the store appears to be floundering. The newly hired B.C. regional manager for Ruffian Apparel is looking into the problem and needs to report back to Vancouver with his recommendations. This case can be used to demonstrate how different theories of motivation might apply to goal-setting and compensation plans. The case illustrates how an inappropriate or poorly structured compensation plan and motivational goals can lead to ineffective and detrimental results. Students who immediately attribute the problems of the case to the lack of a store manager will fail to explore the potential for increasing employee motivation and productivity across the board.
Swot Analysis of "Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment" written by Kevin Hewins, Ann C. Frost includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ruffian Kelowna facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Motivating people and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ruffian Kelowna, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ruffian Kelowna 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 Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ruffian Kelowna
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 Ruffian Kelowna
Strengths Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ruffian Kelowna in Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Ruffian Kelowna has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ruffian Kelowna to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ruffian Kelowna is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ruffian Kelowna 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 Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ruffian Kelowna in the sector have low bargaining power. Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ruffian Kelowna to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ruffian Kelowna digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ruffian Kelowna 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Ruffian Kelowna is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Ruffian Kelowna
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ruffian Kelowna does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Ruffian Kelowna 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 Ruffian Kelowna in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ruffian Kelowna 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 Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment 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 Ruffian Kelowna in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Ruffian Kelowna has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment 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.
Weaknesses Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ruffian Kelowna is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Ruffian Kelowna needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ruffian Kelowna to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ruffian Kelowna 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 - Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Ruffian Kelowna, firm in the HBR case study Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ruffian Kelowna 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment 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 Ruffian Kelowna 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ruffian Kelowna has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
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 Ruffian Kelowna supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ruffian Kelowna vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment, in the dynamic environment Ruffian Kelowna has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ruffian Kelowna has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment 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 Ruffian Kelowna has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment HBR case study mentions - Ruffian Kelowna 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment, it seems that the employees of Ruffian Kelowna don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Opportunities Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment | 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 Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ruffian Kelowna 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 Ruffian Kelowna to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Ruffian Kelowna in the consumer business. Now Ruffian Kelowna can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ruffian Kelowna 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.
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 Ruffian Kelowna 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ruffian Kelowna is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ruffian Kelowna to increase its market reach. Ruffian Kelowna 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Ruffian Kelowna 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ruffian Kelowna 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. Ruffian Kelowna 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. Ruffian Kelowna 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ruffian Kelowna has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ruffian Kelowna to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment case study. Ruffian Kelowna can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ruffian Kelowna 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ruffian Kelowna 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ruffian Kelowna 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.
Threats Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ruffian Kelowna is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment, Ruffian Kelowna 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 .
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ruffian Kelowna 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.
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 Ruffian Kelowna in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Ruffian Kelowna.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ruffian Kelowna 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. Ruffian Kelowna can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Ruffian Kelowna 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. Ruffian Kelowna can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Ruffian Kelowna 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ruffian Kelowna 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
– Ruffian Kelowna has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ruffian Kelowna 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ruffian Kelowna 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment 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 Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment 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 Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment 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 Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment 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 Kyle Evans at Ruffian Apparel: Staffing a Retail Establishment 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 Ruffian Kelowna needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
