Order custom Harvard Business Case Study Analysis & Solution. Starting just $19
Fern Fort University
ManpowerGroup Inc. SWOT Analysis / Matrix
Business Essays, Term Papers & Research Papers
SWOT analysis is a vital strategic planning tool that can be used by ManpowerGroup Inc. managers to do a situational analysis of the company . It is a useful technique to map out the present Strengths (S), Weakness (W), Opportunities (O) & Threats (T) ManpowerGroup Inc. is facing in its current business environment.
The ManpowerGroup Inc. is one of the leading firms in its industry. ManpowerGroup Inc. maintains its prominent position in market by carefully analyzing and reviewing the SWOT analysis. SWOT analysis a highly interactive process and requires effective coordination among various departments within the company such as – marketing, finance, operations, management information systems and strategic planning.
Order Now - ManpowerGroup Inc. SWOT Analysis
Check out- ManpowerGroup Inc. PESTEL / PEST & Environment Analysis
Article continues after advertisement
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 ManpowerGroup Inc. 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 core purpose of SWOT matrix is to identify the strategies that a firm can use to exploit external opportunities, counter threats, and build on & protect ManpowerGroup Inc. strengths, and eradicate its weaknesses.
Step by Step Guide to ManpowerGroup Inc. SWOT Analysis
Strengths of ManpowerGroup Inc. – Internal Strategic Factors
As one of the leading organizations in its industry, ManpowerGroup Inc. 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 ManpowerGroup Inc. are –
Read - ManpowerGroup Inc. Porter 5 Forces Analysis & Industry Analysis
Article continues after advertisement
- Reliable suppliers – It has a strong base of reliable supplier of raw material thus enabling the company to overcome any supply chain bottlenecks.
- Strong Brand Portfolio – Over the years ManpowerGroup Inc. has invested in building a strong brand portfolio. The SWOT analysis of ManpowerGroup Inc. just underlines this fact. This brand portfolio can be extremely useful if the organization wants to expand into new product categories.
- Successful track record of developing new products – product innovation.
- Good Returns on Capital Expenditure – ManpowerGroup Inc. is relatively successful at execution of new projects and generated good returns on capital expenditure by building new revenue streams.
- Strong Free Cash Flow – ManpowerGroup Inc. has strong free cash flows that provide resources in the hand of the company to expand into new projects.
- Automation of activities brought consistency of quality to ManpowerGroup Inc. products and has enabled the company to scale up and scale down based on the demand conditions in the market.
- Successful track record of integrating complimentary firms through mergers & acquisition. It has successfully integrated number of technology companies in the past few years to streamline its operations and to build a reliable supply chain.
- Strong distribution network – Over the years ManpowerGroup Inc. has built a reliable distribution network that can reach majority of its potential market.
Weakness of ManpowerGroup Inc. – Internal Strategic Factors
Weakness are the areas where ManpowerGroup Inc. can improve upon. Strategy is about making choices and weakness are the areas where a company can improve using SWOT analysis and build on its competitive advantage and strategic positioning.
Article continues after advertisement
- The company has not being able to tackle the challenges present by the new entrants in the segment and has lost small market share in the niche categories. ManpowerGroup Inc. has to build internal feedback mechanism directly from sales team on ground to counter these challenges.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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 ManpowerGroup Inc. is not very good at demand forecasting thus end up keeping higher inventory both in-house and in channel.
- High attrition rate in work force – compare to other organizations in the industry ManpowerGroup Inc. has a higher attrition rate and have to spend a lot more compare to its competitors on training and development of its employees.
- Not highly successful at integrating firms with different work culture. As mentioned earlier even though ManpowerGroup Inc. is successful at integrating small companies it has its share of failure to merge firms that have different work culture.
- 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.
Opportunities for ManpowerGroup Inc. – External Strategic Factors
Article continues after advertisement
- The market development will lead to dilution of competitor’s advantage and enable ManpowerGroup Inc. to increase its competitiveness compare to the other competitors.
- Decreasing cost of transportation because of lower shipping prices can also bring down the cost of ManpowerGroup Inc.’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.
- New environmental policies – The new opportunities will create a level playing field for all the players in the industry. It represent a great opportunity for ManpowerGroup Inc. to drive home its advantage in new technology and gain market share in the new product category.
- Lower inflation rate – The low inflation rate bring more stability in the market, enable credit at lower interest rate to the customers of ManpowerGroup Inc..
- New trends in the consumer behavior can open up new market for the ManpowerGroup Inc. . It provides a great opportunity for the organization to build new revenue streams and diversify into new product categories too.
- The new technology provides an opportunity to ManpowerGroup Inc. 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.
- Economic uptick and increase in customer spending, after years of recession and slow growth rate in the industry, is an opportunity for ManpowerGroup Inc. to capture new customers and increase its market share.
- Government green drive also opens an opportunity for procurement of ManpowerGroup Inc. products by the state as well as federal government contractors.
Threats ManpowerGroup Inc. Facing - External Strategic Factors
- Liability laws in different countries are different and ManpowerGroup Inc. may be exposed to various liability claims given change in policies in those markets.
- As the company is operating in numerous countries it is exposed to currency fluctuations especially given the volatile political climate in number of markets across the world.
- New environment regulations under Paris agreement (2016) could be a threat to certain existing product categories .
- Rising pay level especially movements such as $15 an hour and increasing prices in the China can lead to serious pressure on profitability of ManpowerGroup Inc.
- Rising raw material can pose a threat to the ManpowerGroup Inc. profitability.
- New technologies developed by the competitor or market disruptor could be a serious threat to the industry in medium to long term future.
- 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.
- Shortage of skilled workforce in certain global market represents a threat to steady growth of profits for ManpowerGroup Inc. in those markets.
Limitations of SWOT Analysis for ManpowerGroup Inc.
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 ManpowerGroup Inc.
- 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.
Article continues after advertisement
Weighted SWOT Analysis of ManpowerGroup Inc.
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 ManpowerGroup Inc. 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 ManpowerGroup Inc.
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.
Buy Custom Essay and Term Paper on SWOT Analysis / Matrix , Weighted SWOT Analysis of ManpowerGroup Inc.
Example of Weighted SWOT Analysis
You can email us to get an example document of Weighted SWOT analysis.
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)
Order Now
Previous 5 SWOT Analysis
- Magal Security Systems Ltd. SWOT Analysis
- Macy's, Inc. SWOT Analysis
- Live Nation Entertainment, Inc. SWOT Analysis
- Las Vegas Sands Corp. SWOT Analysis
- Liberty Ventures SWOT Analysis
Next 5 SWOT Analysis
- Manchester United plc SWOT Analysis
- Marriott International, Inc. SWOT Analysis
- Marathon Patent Group, Inc. SWOT Analysis
- Matthews International Corporation SWOT Analysis
- Matson, Inc. SWOT Analysis