Case Study Description of Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne
The board had appointed him specifically to sail the stormy seas of EU ascension. But on his watch, the Slovenian CEO had seen a nightmare unfold on TV when picketers blocked entrance to his plant. A four-day standoff cost him eight figures, and now for the company to stay solvent, he needed international growth. And agreement. But his shareholders-some of whom were the picketers-held grudgingly disparate views. How could he unite them? Students will analyze and evaluate potential strategies for this CEO's success.
Swot Analysis of "Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne" written by Lynn Isabella, Chris Borunda includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Picketers Grudgingly facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization,
wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Picketers Grudgingly, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Picketers Grudgingly 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 Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Picketers Grudgingly
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 Picketers Grudgingly
Strengths Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Picketers Grudgingly in Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Picketers Grudgingly in the sector have low bargaining power. Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Picketers Grudgingly to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Picketers Grudgingly has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Picketers Grudgingly to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Picketers Grudgingly 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 Picketers Grudgingly in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Picketers Grudgingly are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Picketers Grudgingly 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 Picketers Grudgingly is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Picketers Grudgingly is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Picketers Grudgingly in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Picketers Grudgingly digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Picketers Grudgingly 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.
Organizational Resilience of Picketers Grudgingly
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Picketers Grudgingly does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Picketers Grudgingly is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Picketers Grudgingly has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Picketers Grudgingly 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.
Weaknesses Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Picketers Grudgingly 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Picketers Grudgingly, firm in the HBR case study Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne HBR case study mentions - Picketers Grudgingly takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Picketers Grudgingly 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Picketers Grudgingly has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne 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 Picketers Grudgingly 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne, in the dynamic environment Picketers Grudgingly has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Picketers Grudgingly has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Picketers Grudgingly has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Picketers Grudgingly even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Picketers Grudgingly is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Picketers Grudgingly needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Picketers Grudgingly to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Picketers Grudgingly 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Opportunities Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne | 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 Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne are -
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. Picketers Grudgingly can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Picketers Grudgingly 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Picketers Grudgingly is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Picketers Grudgingly has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Picketers Grudgingly to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne case study. Picketers Grudgingly can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Picketers Grudgingly has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Picketers Grudgingly to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Picketers Grudgingly can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Picketers Grudgingly 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, Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Picketers Grudgingly 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Picketers Grudgingly 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Picketers Grudgingly can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Picketers Grudgingly 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 Picketers Grudgingly to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Picketers Grudgingly to increase its market reach. Picketers Grudgingly 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 Picketers Grudgingly 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.
Threats Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne are -
Increasing wage structure of Picketers Grudgingly
– 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 Picketers Grudgingly.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Picketers Grudgingly 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne, Picketers Grudgingly 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 .
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. Picketers Grudgingly 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.
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. Picketers Grudgingly can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Picketers Grudgingly 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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Picketers Grudgingly has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Picketers Grudgingly 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.
Environmental challenges
– Picketers Grudgingly 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. Picketers Grudgingly can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Picketers Grudgingly.
Regulatory challenges
– Picketers Grudgingly 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.
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. Picketers Grudgingly needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Picketers Grudgingly with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne 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 Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne 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 Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne 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 Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne 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 Juggling at Ljubljanske Mlekarne 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 Picketers Grudgingly needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
