Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C)
This is a supplement to Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (A) and (B), products 9B09M080 and 9B09M081 and, taken together, this case series illustrates why industrial farming has supplanted the farm-based agricultural system.
Swot Analysis of "Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C)" written by Pratima Bansal, Pam Laughland, Brent McKnight includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ranching Ranch facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Social responsibility, Strategy, Sustainability and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ranching Ranch, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ranching Ranch 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 Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ranching Ranch
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Ranching Ranch
Strengths Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ranching Ranch in Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Ranching Ranch is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Ranching Ranch in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Ranching Ranch 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 Ranching Ranch is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Ranching Ranch has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ranching Ranch digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ranching Ranch 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ranching Ranch is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) case study 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ranching Ranch has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ranching Ranch to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ranching Ranch to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Ranching Ranch has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ranching Ranch to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Ranching Ranch is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Ranching Ranch 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 industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Pratima Bansal, Pam Laughland, Brent McKnight can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ranching Ranch has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ranching Ranch 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ranching Ranch has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ranching Ranch 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) that the firm 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 in the case Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ranching Ranch is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ranching Ranch products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ranching Ranch needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C), is just above the industry average. Ranching Ranch 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Ranching Ranch 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ranching Ranch has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ranching Ranch 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 industry using digital technology.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ranching Ranch is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Ranching Ranch needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ranching Ranch to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ranching Ranch has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Ranching Ranch supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ranching Ranch vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ranching Ranch is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ranching Ranch in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ranching Ranch has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ranching Ranch to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) case study. Ranching Ranch can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ranching Ranch 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.
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. Ranching Ranch 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 Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Ranching Ranch can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ranching Ranch is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Ranching Ranch 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Ranching Ranch in the consumer business. Now Ranching Ranch can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ranching Ranch to increase its market reach. Ranching Ranch 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ranching Ranch 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ranching Ranch 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 Ranching Ranch to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Ranching Ranch 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. Ranching Ranch 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ranching Ranch can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ranching Ranch 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 the industry and other sectors.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Ranching Ranch needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ranching Ranch 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.
Increasing wage structure of Ranching Ranch
– 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 Ranching Ranch.
Environmental challenges
– Ranching Ranch 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. Ranching Ranch can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ranching Ranch can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Ranching Ranch can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ranching Ranch has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ranching Ranch needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.
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 Ranching Ranch business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Ranching Ranch 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
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. Ranching Ranch 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.
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 Ranching Ranch.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ranching Ranch in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) 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 the case study Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) 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 the Harvard case study Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) 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 Y U Ranch: Strategy and Sustainability in Cattle Ranching (C) is 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 Ranching Ranch needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.