Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza
A business professor who teaches sustainability must decide whether to sell his shares in the Canadian company, Loblaw Inc., after learning that the company produced garments for its clothing line in a Bangladeshi garment factory that collapsed, killing 1,127 workers.
Swot Analysis of "Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza" written by Michael Sider includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Loblaw 1,127 facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, 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,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Loblaw 1,127, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Loblaw 1,127 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 Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Loblaw 1,127
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 Loblaw 1,127
Strengths Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Loblaw 1,127 in Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Loblaw 1,127 is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Loblaw 1,127 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Loblaw 1,127 is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza 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.
High brand equity
– Loblaw 1,127 has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Loblaw 1,127 to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Loblaw 1,127 is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Loblaw 1,127 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Loblaw 1,127 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 Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Loblaw 1,127
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Loblaw 1,127 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
– Loblaw 1,127 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 Loblaw 1,127 in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Loblaw 1,127 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 Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Loblaw 1,127 has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Loblaw 1,127 has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Loblaw 1,127 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 Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza 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 Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Loblaw 1,127 is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Loblaw 1,127 supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Loblaw 1,127 vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza, it seems that the employees of Loblaw 1,127 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza 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 Loblaw 1,127 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza, 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Loblaw 1,127 is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Loblaw 1,127 products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Loblaw 1,127 needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Loblaw 1,127 is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Loblaw 1,127 needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Loblaw 1,127 to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Loblaw 1,127, firm in the HBR case study Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Michael Sider suggests that, Loblaw 1,127 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza, is just above the industry average. Loblaw 1,127 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.
Opportunities Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza | 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 Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza are -
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Loblaw 1,127 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Loblaw 1,127 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Loblaw 1,127 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, Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Loblaw 1,127 can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Loblaw 1,127 in the consumer business. Now Loblaw 1,127 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. Loblaw 1,127 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. Loblaw 1,127 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Loblaw 1,127 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Loblaw 1,127 can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Loblaw 1,127 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Loblaw 1,127 has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Loblaw 1,127 to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza case study. Loblaw 1,127 can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Loblaw 1,127 can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Loblaw 1,127 can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Loblaw 1,127 operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Loblaw 1,127 is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza 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.
Threats Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Loblaw 1,127 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.
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 Loblaw 1,127.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Loblaw 1,127 with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Loblaw 1,127 business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Loblaw 1,127 needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Loblaw 1,127 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 Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza .
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. Loblaw 1,127 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Loblaw 1,127 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. Loblaw 1,127 will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Increasing wage structure of Loblaw 1,127
– 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 Loblaw 1,127.
Regulatory challenges
– Loblaw 1,127 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.
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 Loblaw 1,127 in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza 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 Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza 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 Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza 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 Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza 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 Loblaw Inc. and Rana Plaza 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 Loblaw 1,127 needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
