Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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 Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc
2. Improving business portfolio management of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc
Strengths of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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.
Organizational Resilience of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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
– Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in
– Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc is one of the leading players in the industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc is one of the most innovative firm in sector.
Digital Transformation in industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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.
Strong track record of project management in the industry
– Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc in the sector have low bargaining power. Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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 Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc is one of the leading players in the industry, it 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’ less understanding of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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 at Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc is just above the industry average. It 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the industry, but Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc to focus more on services in the industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc has high operating costs in the industry. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc has some of the most successful models in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact industry. 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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. Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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.
Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc can improve the customer journey of consumers in the 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc can develop new processes and procedures in 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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 Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc to increase its market reach. Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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 Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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 in industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc in the industry. Now Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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 industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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. Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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.
Threats Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc is facing in sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc.
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 Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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. Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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 industry and other sectors.
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. Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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 Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc prominent markets.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc in industry. The 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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 industry regulations.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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 Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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 Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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 Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc 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 Robinsons Retail Holdings Inc needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.