Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?"
Deals with the depletion of fish stocks in the late 1990s. Unilever, one of the biggest fish producers in the world, had a strong interest in finding a solution for this dilemma. Unilever decided to found the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). This council is run as a joint venture with the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF). Provides detailed background of both Unilever and the WWF to understand their intentions. Describes the process of setting up the MSC and deals with the issues of stakeholder management. Interestingly, other environmental groups heavily criticized the WWF for joining forces with Unilever.
Swot Analysis of "Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?"" written by Ulrich Steger, George Radler includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Unilever Wwf facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Joint ventures, Operations management, Sustainability and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?"
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Unilever Wwf, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Unilever Wwf 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 Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Unilever Wwf
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 Unilever Wwf
Strengths Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Unilever Wwf in Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Unilever Wwf
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Unilever Wwf does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Unilever Wwf is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" 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 Unilever Wwf 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Unilever Wwf 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 Unilever Wwf in the sector have low bargaining power. Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Unilever Wwf to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Unilever Wwf has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Unilever Wwf has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Unilever Wwf 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 Unilever Wwf in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Unilever Wwf to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Unilever Wwf to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Unilever Wwf in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Unilever Wwf 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 Unilever Wwf is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Unilever Wwf 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 Ulrich Steger, George Radler 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.
Weaknesses Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Unilever Wwf 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Unilever Wwf is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Unilever Wwf needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Unilever Wwf to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ulrich Steger, George Radler suggests that, Unilever Wwf is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" 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 Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Unilever Wwf is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Unilever Wwf products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Unilever Wwf 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 Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?", is just above the industry average. Unilever Wwf 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Unilever Wwf has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Unilever Wwf 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" 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 Unilever Wwf 's lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Unilever Wwf is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Unilever Wwf 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 - Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" | 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 Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" are -
Buying journey improvements
– Unilever Wwf can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" suggest that firm 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Unilever Wwf 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.
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. Unilever Wwf can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Unilever Wwf 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Unilever Wwf 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Unilever Wwf 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, as suggested in case study, Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?", to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– Unilever Wwf can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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
– Unilever Wwf 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Unilever Wwf can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Unilever Wwf 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 Unilever Wwf to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Unilever Wwf to increase its market reach. Unilever Wwf 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.
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 Unilever Wwf in the consumer business. Now Unilever Wwf can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Unilever Wwf is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" 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.
Threats Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" are -
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 Unilever Wwf.
Regulatory challenges
– Unilever Wwf 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Unilever Wwf 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.
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. Unilever Wwf 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 wage structure of Unilever Wwf
– 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 Unilever Wwf.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Unilever Wwf 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.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Unilever Wwf in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Unilever Wwf 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.
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 Unilever Wwf business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?", Unilever Wwf may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Unilever Wwf 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Unilever Wwf is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" 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 Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" 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 Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" 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 Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" 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 Marine Stewardship Council (A): Is a Joint Venture Possible Between "Suits and Sandals?" 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 Unilever Wwf needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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