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Hasbro Inc. SWOT

Hasbro Inc. is one of the largest and leading toy makers in the world. Without a doubt, the SWOT Analysis tool is critical in making strategic decisions and determination of new or existing products. The SWOT analysis stands for the strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats of a company. The analysis evaluates the company’s internal and external forces to improve they key business structure, operations, products and strategy.

Hasbro’s External Forces

External forces are opportunities and threats that the company itself cannot control. These forces are considered legal, global economic, technological, innovation, the social, environmental, and competitive analysis which they can affect short run and long term operations at Hasbro’s Incorporated. It is important for the management team to recognize these opportunities and threats for strategic decision making.

The legal and regulatory process for any company can be grueling with several risks and opportunities. The main threats for Hasbro Inc. are higher demand for product safety standards set by government regulation changes or their outsourcing manufacturers not meeting the companies set requirements. However, Hasbro’s has designed their security regulations and quality assurance programs. According to Hasbro’s corporate responsibility. “We employ approximately 140 proprietary Safety and Reliability Standards (SRS) in our global Quality Assurance (QA) program.” (“Making Products Safely,” 2016, para. 4-6). The programs provide safety and assurance opportunities to consumers that Hasbro’s meets the best quality control checks on toy markets.

Hasbro Inc. is a multinational toy company, so globalization is no new strategy. Some key opportunities are outsourcing manufacturing to save costs and reaching expanding markets, while some threats are facing cultural differences and institutional attributes.

Economic external factors can impact the business management, product development, plus supply and demand. The rise of income and decrease in unemployment allow more consumers to earn more money which increases spending. An economic threat to Hasbro’s new product is the high inflation, exchange rate, and currency fluctuations. With the company outsourcing manufacturing, it can cause difficulties with pricing product cheap enough for consumers but high enough for covering costs and profitability with these fluctuations.

Technology is ever-changing and can provide several opportunities or threats to any company from product decisions to manufacturing. Some opportunities technology offers are through product innovation, application knowledge, rigorous research, and development along with quality control checks. However, technology provides threats like products becoming obsolete and technology advancing faster than company designs.

Technology also plays a role in the company’s innovation process. Hasbro utilizes technology research and development to understand the market needs. Innovation offers opportunities for new product design, uniqueness, and advancements in prior products. Staying innovative can become difficult for Hasbro’s when resources are limited, and customers desire new developing and developing products.

Social factors are what affects the lifestyle of consumers like religion, wealth, and families. Businesses have to be aware of these factors changing to understand marketing decisions. Unfortunately, social factors are the hardest to forecast and predict. Some social opportunities for Hasbro’s are age distribution, population growth, and media advertisement. Some threats related to social factors are negative media publications and cultural diversification. Both can provide misunderstood information decreasing the desire of product.

With the availably and costs of raw materials becoming threatening, Hasbro’s devised a plan to implement a comprehensive waste policy. The policy is their endless opportunity with existing and new product development enforcing the use of non-toxic, environmentally safe material usage decreasing the companies ecological damage (“Operations and the Environment,” 2016). The policy also allowed for a competitive advantage over the competition with environmental enthusiasts. Over past decade the company has been able to save money, incorporate safer designs, and reduce waste on the earth. “In 2008, Hasbro set a goal to reduce non-recycled non-hazardous waste by 15 percent by 2012. We surpassed this goal, reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill by 37 percent compared with the 2008 baseline.” (“Operations and the Environment,” 2016, para 5.).

With the evaluation of competitive analysis, the company can establish what makes the new division unique and attractive to the target market. Fortunately for Hasbro’s the product is not like any other on the market. The new product is also safe, easy to use, and has learning capabilities for children. Some threats are competitor’s ability to duplicate similar product or develop higher quality and adding functions to the toy. The largest threat is the possibility of not reaching the target market efficiently.

Hasbro’s Internal Forces

The Internal Forces of a company can affect the activities, processes, control, and decision-making. Hasbro Inc. is known for their extended periods of business operation.

A strategy strength for the company is promoting clear cut business operations through highly educating management and employees. A weakness for their strategy is when management refuses to use their education and not follow company strategic plans.

The company’s structure is just as important as the strategy when dealing with the administration teams. Hasbro’s experienced and developed management team is a strength they utilize to determine structure capabilities. But when the management doesn’t follow their roles and responsibilities it creates structure weakness within the company.

Hasbro Inc. in past several years increased their investments with technology. Technology allows the company to advance their creating process, manufacturing abilities, product development, internal processes, and systems. Technology is known as a major strength but can be a weakness when not utilize the property. Plus, technology is every changing making it challenging and expensive to stay ahead of the competition.

Technology has also assisted Hasbro with expanding their resources like brand name and the high level of consistent performance. However, strong completive brand names and loss of manufacturing facilities has caused weaknesses within the company.

Hasbro’s goals to strengthen the company are to expand the environmental sustainability by minimizing the environmental footprint of operations, supply chain, products and packaging. Switching primarily to environmentally safe products can be costly causing weaknesses but over time can serve as a strength.

Strategic Capabilities determine a company competitive analysis. For Hasbro’s their strategic capabilities of the new product, division is the value and rarity of the new product. Market trends and public surveys narrow down the strategic capabilities of the company and need for product development. Strategic capabilities can cause weaknesses over time they are less relevant and difficult to alter.

The company’s cultural strengths are strong work ethics and high ethical beliefs. But not every employee will follow the company’s cultural beliefs and could cause weaknesses with the lack of work determination of ethic decisions.

Strength's for the new product division is innovation itself. The company can utilize the innovation process and technology to create unique products that service the needs of consumers. But the lack of innovation can put a halt on company’s product growth.

Implementing an internal intellectual property management or known as IP management program in many cases provides companies with a competitive advantage. The IP management helps the company protect patents, brand recognition, and internal procedures. Without this strength, the company can face weaknesses like copyright fractures, legal difficulties, and internal management complications.

The application of leadership style help the company understand and utilize the design, build, and maintain the product development. However, maintaining the leadership can create weaknesses with management and employee direction.

Supply Chain

Hasbro Inc. being one of the largest toy manufacturers in the world utilizes the same supply chain for existing and new products. Because of low-cost manufacturing in East Asia, Hasbro outsources their manufacturing primarily to Asia contractors. After being manufactured the products are shipped by plane and or boat to one of two locations East Longmeadow, Massachusetts or Waterford, Ireland. These two locations are both manufacturing facilities and warehouses where the products are inspected for quality check, safety regulations, and stored. Soon they are distributed by truck and plane to one of the thousands of retail locations around the world. However, for any unsatisfied customer or product recalls all Hasbro’s products can be shipped back to primary warehouse location for refunds or replacement product.

Hasbro Inc. is determined with encouraging environmental sustainability, the plan to leverage core competencies and make a positive impact on the company through the supply chain. They have already begun the process of minimizing greenhouses gas and emission with combining several store products in one vehicle or trip. Instead of breaking into many sections they ship on boats together decreasing the number of trips make. My suggestion is to enforce energy safe policies at outsourcing facilities. Hasbro outsources their manufacturing overseas to lower the cost of production. However, these locations need regulatory inspections to manage their efficiency and environmentally safe practices. With the management of outsourcing facilities, it can allow Hasbro to honestly say they are contributing everything they can to reduce their footprint. Factories even if not owned by companies can give them negative media advertisements when laws or policies are not followed.

Conclusion

Hasbro Inc. has shown they are the leading toy company with 90 plus years in operation. They utilize their tools like SWOT analysis to help identify the company’s internal and external forces. The company adapts to changes relatively quickly allowing them to stay on top of market internally, externally, and through their supply chain.

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