H.B. Fuller SWOT Analysis / Matrix

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SWOT analysis is a strategic planning tool that can be used by H.B. Fuller managers to do a situational analysis of the firm . It is an important technique to evalauate the present Strengths (S), Weakness (W), Opportunities (O) & Threats (T) H.B. Fuller is facing in its current business environment.

The H.B. Fuller is one of the leading organizatations in its industry. H.B. Fuller maintains its dominant position in market by critically analyzing and reviewing the SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis an immensenly interactive process and requires effective coordination among various departments within the firm such as – marketing, finance, operations, management information systems and strategic planning.

The SWOT Analysis framework helps an organization to identify the internal strategic factors such as -strengths and weaknesses, & external strategic factors such as - opportunities and threats. It leads to a 2X2 matrix – also called SWOT Matrix.

The Strengths-Weaknesses-Opportunities-Threats (SWOT) Analysis / Matrix helps the managers of the H.B. Fuller to develop four types of strategies:

SO (strengths-opportunities) Strategies
WO (weaknesses-opportunities) Strategies
ST (strengths-threats) Strategies
WT (weaknesses-threats) Strategies

SWOT Matrix Strategies Objective

The main purpose of SWOT matrix is to identify the strategies that a firm can use to exploit external opportunities, counter threats, and build on & protect H.B. Fuller strengths, and eradicate its weaknesses.

Step by Step Guide to H.B. Fuller SWOT Analysis

Strengths of H.B. Fuller – Internal Strategic Factors

As one of the leading organizations in its industry, H.B. Fuller has numerous strengths that enable it to thrive in the market place. These strengths not only help it to protect the market share in existing markets but also help in penetrating new markets. Based on Fern Fort University extensive research – some of the strengths of H.B. Fuller are –

High level of customer satisfaction – the company with its dedicated customer relationship management department has able to achieve a high level of customer satisfaction among present customers and good brand equity among the potential customers.
Reliable suppliers – It has a strong base of reliable supplier of raw material thus enabling the company to overcome any supply chain bottlenecks.
Good Returns on Capital Expenditure – H.B. Fuller is relatively successful at execution of new projects and generated good returns on capital expenditure by building new revenue streams.
Automation of activities brought consistency of quality to H.B. Fuller products and has enabled the company to scale up and scale down based on the demand conditions in the market.
Highly successful at Go To Market strategies for its products.
Strong distribution network – Over the years H.B. Fuller has built a reliable distribution network that can reach majority of its potential market.
Highly skilled workforce through successful training and learning programs. H.B. Fuller is investing huge resources in training and development of its employees resulting in a workforce that is not only highly skilled but also motivated to achieve more.
Strong Brand Portfolio – Over the years H.B. Fuller has invested in building a strong brand portfolio. The SWOT analysis of H.B. Fuller just underlines this fact. This brand portfolio can be extremely useful if the organization wants to expand into new product categories.

Weakness of H.B. Fuller – Internal Strategic Factors

Weakness are the areas where H.B. Fuller can improve upon. Strategy is about making choices and weakness are the areas where a firm can improve using SWOT analysis and build on its competitive advantage and strategic positioning.

Days inventory is high compare to the competitors – making the company raise more capital to invest in the channel. This can impact the long term growth of H.B. Fuller
The marketing of the products left a lot to be desired. Even though the product is a success in terms of sale but its positioning and unique selling proposition is not clearly defined which can lead to the attacks in this segment from the competitors.
Financial planning is not done properly and efficiently. The current asset ratio and liquid asset ratios suggest that the company can use the cash more efficiently than what it is doing at present.
Organization structure is only compatible with present business model thus limiting expansion in adjacent product segments.
High attrition rate in work force – compare to other organizations in the industry H.B. Fuller has a higher attrition rate and have to spend a lot more compare to its competitors on training and development of its employees.
Not very good at product demand forecasting leading to higher rate of missed opportunities compare to its competitors. One of the reason why the days inventory is high compare to its competitors is that H.B. Fuller is not very good at demand forecasting thus end up keeping higher inventory both in-house and in channel.
There are gaps in the product range sold by the company. This lack of choice can give a new competitor a foothold in the market.

Opportunities for H.B. Fuller – External Strategic Factors

Government green drive also opens an opportunity for procurement of H.B. Fuller products by the state as well as federal government contractors.
Decreasing cost of transportation because of lower shipping prices can also bring down the cost of H.B. Fuller’s products thus providing an opportunity to the company - either to boost its profitability or pass on the benefits to the customers to gain market share.
Stable free cash flow provides opportunities to invest in adjacent product segments. With more cash in bank the company can invest in new technologies as well as in new products segments. This should open a window of opportunity for H.B. Fuller in other product categories.
Opening up of new markets because of government agreement – the adoption of new technology standard and government free trade agreement has provided H.B. Fuller an opportunity to enter a new emerging market.
Economic uptick and increase in customer spending, after years of recession and slow growth rate in the industry, is an opportunity for H.B. Fuller to capture new customers and increase its market share.
The new technology provides an opportunity to H.B. Fuller to practices differentiated pricing strategy in the new market. It will enable the firm to maintain its loyal customers with great service and lure new customers through other value oriented propositions.
New trends in the consumer behavior can open up new market for the H.B. Fuller . It provides a great opportunity for the organization to build new revenue streams and diversify into new product categories too.
Lower inflation rate – The low inflation rate bring more stability in the market, enable credit at lower interest rate to the customers of H.B. Fuller.

Threats H.B. Fuller Facing - External Strategic Factors

No regular supply of innovative products – Over the years the company has developed numerous products but those are often response to the development by other players. Secondly the supply of new products is not regular thus leading to high and low swings in the sales number over period of time.
Liability laws in different countries are different and H.B. Fuller may be exposed to various liability claims given change in policies in those markets.
The demand of the highly profitable products is seasonal in nature and any unlikely event during the peak season may impact the profitability of the company in short to medium term.
Intense competition – Stable profitability has increased the number of players in the industry over last two years which has put downward pressure on not only profitability but also on overall sales.
Increasing trend toward isolationism in the American economy can lead to similar reaction from other government thus negatively impacting the international sales.
The company can face lawsuits in various markets given - different laws and continuous fluctuations regarding product standards in those markets.
Imitation of the counterfeit and low quality product is also a threat to H.B. Fuller’s product especially in the emerging markets and low income markets.
Shortage of skilled workforce in certain global market represents a threat to steady growth of profits for H.B. Fuller in those markets.

Limitations of SWOT Analysis for H.B. Fuller

Although the SWOT analysis is widely used as a strategic planning tool, the analysis does have its share of limitations.

Certain capabilities or factors of an organization can be both a strength and weakness at the same time. This is one of the major limitations of SWOT analysis . For example changing environmental regulations can be both a threat to company it can also be an opportunity in a sense that it will enable the company to be on a level playing field or at advantage to competitors if it able to develop the products faster than the competitors.
SWOT does not show how to achieve a competitive advantage, so it must not be an end in itself.
The matrix is only a starting point for a discussion on how proposed strategies could be implemented. It provided an evaluation window but not an implementation plan based on strategic competitiveness of H.B. Fuller
SWOT is a static assessment - analysis of status quo with few prospective changes. As circumstances, capabilities, threats, and strategies change, the dynamics of a competitive environment may not be revealed in a single matrix.
SWOT analysis may lead the firm to overemphasize a single internal or external factor in formulating strategies. There are interrelationships among the key internal and external factors that SWOT does not reveal that may be important in devising strategies.

Weighted SWOT Analysis of H.B. Fuller

In light of the above mentioned limitations of the SWOT analysis / matrix, corporate managers decided to provide weightage to each internal strength and weakness of the firm. Organizations also assess the likelihood of events taking place in the coming future and how strong their impact could be on company's performance.

This method is called Weighted SWOT analysis. It is better than doing simplistic SWOT analysis because with Weighted SWOT Analysis H.B. Fuller managers can focus on the most critical factors and discount the non-important one. It also solves the long list problem where organizations ends up making a long list but none of the factors deemed too critical.

Limitation of Weighted SWOT analysis of H.B. Fuller

This approach also suffers from one major drawback - it focus on individual importance of factor rather than how they are collectively important and impact the business holistically.

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Example of Weighted SWOT Analysis

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SWOT Worksheet & Template

If you like to do your own SWOT analysis or want to make your own Weighted SWOT SWOT matrix then feel free to download Fern Fort University SWOT Analysis Template.

References / Citations & Bibliography

M. E. Porter, Competitive Strategy(New York: Free Press, 1980)
A. D. Chandler, Strategy and Structure (Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1962)
O. E. Williamson, Markets and Hierarchies(New York: Free Press, 1975);
L. Wrigley, Divisional Autonomy and Diversification (PhD, Harvard Business School, 1970)
R. E. White, Generic Business Strategies, Organizational Context and Performance: An Empirical Investigation, Strategic Management Journal7 (1986)