Mcrae Inds Cl A (MCRAA) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Footwear
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Mcrae Inds Cl A (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Mcrae Inds Cl A is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Mcrae Inds Cl A can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mcrae Inds Cl A, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mcrae Inds Cl A 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 Mcrae Inds Cl A can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Mcrae Inds Cl A
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mcrae Inds Cl A
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Footwear sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Mcrae Inds Cl A
Strengths of Mcrae Inds Cl A | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mcrae Inds Cl A are -
Analytics focus
– Mcrae Inds Cl A 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 Footwear industry. The technology infrastructure of United States is also helping it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Organizational Resilience of Mcrae Inds Cl A
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Mcrae Inds Cl A does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Footwear industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Mcrae Inds Cl A digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Mcrae Inds Cl A 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
– Mcrae Inds Cl A has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Mcrae Inds Cl A to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Mcrae Inds Cl A has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Mcrae Inds Cl A staying ahead in the Footwear industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Mcrae Inds Cl A comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Footwear 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Mcrae Inds Cl A has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mcrae Inds Cl A 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.
Learning organization
- Mcrae Inds Cl A is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Mcrae Inds Cl A is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Mcrae Inds Cl A emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Footwear industry
– Mcrae Inds Cl A has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mcrae Inds Cl A to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Footwear industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mcrae Inds Cl A to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Footwear
– Mcrae Inds Cl A is one of the leading players in the Footwear industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Footwear industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Mcrae Inds Cl A in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Mcrae Inds Cl A in Footwear industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Mcrae Inds Cl A is one of the leading players in the Footwear industry in United States. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in United States. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses of Mcrae Inds Cl A | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mcrae Inds Cl A are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Mcrae Inds Cl A has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Footwear industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Mcrae Inds Cl A has high operating costs in the Footwear industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Mcrae Inds Cl A lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Mcrae Inds Cl A 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 dependence on Mcrae Inds Cl A ‘s star products
– The top 2 products and services of Mcrae Inds Cl A still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in Footwear industry has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Mcrae Inds Cl A has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Mcrae Inds Cl A 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Mcrae Inds Cl A has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Footwear industry over the last five years. Mcrae Inds Cl A 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, Mcrae Inds Cl A needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Mcrae Inds Cl A 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 Footwear industry using digital technology.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Mcrae Inds Cl A is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Mcrae Inds Cl A to provide better information regarding Footwear products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Footwear industry, Mcrae Inds Cl A 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Mcrae Inds Cl A is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Footwear industry, but Mcrae Inds Cl A needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Mcrae Inds Cl A to focus more on services in the Footwear industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Mcrae Inds Cl A Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Mcrae Inds Cl A are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Mcrae Inds Cl A in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Footwear industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Mcrae Inds Cl A 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Mcrae Inds Cl A can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Footwear sector. 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Mcrae Inds Cl A can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Footwear industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Mcrae Inds Cl A can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Mcrae Inds Cl A 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.
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 Mcrae Inds Cl A 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Mcrae Inds Cl A has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Footwear industry. This can help Mcrae Inds Cl A to build a more holistic ecosystem for Mcrae Inds Cl A products in the Footwear industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Mcrae Inds Cl A can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Footwear industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Mcrae Inds Cl A can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Mcrae Inds Cl A 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 Mcrae Inds Cl A to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Mcrae Inds Cl A 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Mcrae Inds Cl A 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 Mcrae Inds Cl 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.
Threats Mcrae Inds Cl A External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Mcrae Inds Cl A are -
Regulatory challenges
– Mcrae Inds Cl A 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 Footwear industry regulations.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Mcrae Inds Cl A 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 Mcrae Inds Cl A prominent markets.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Mcrae Inds Cl A has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Footwear industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mcrae Inds Cl A needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Footwear 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Footwear industry are lowering. It can presents Mcrae Inds Cl A with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Footwear 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 Mcrae Inds Cl A business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Footwear industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Mcrae Inds Cl A can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Mcrae Inds Cl A in Footwear industry. The Footwear 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.
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.
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 Mcrae Inds Cl A.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mcrae Inds Cl A 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.
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. Mcrae Inds Cl A 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.
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 Mcrae Inds Cl A in the Footwear sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Mcrae Inds Cl A
– 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 Mcrae Inds Cl A.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Mcrae Inds Cl A Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Mcrae Inds Cl 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 Mcrae Inds Cl 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 Mcrae Inds Cl 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 Mcrae Inds Cl A 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 Mcrae Inds Cl A needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.