Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters 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 (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters
Deals with the actual implementation of the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). Explains in detail the certification process for fisheries. This process is a best-practice example for cooperation between environmental groups and corporations. The case raises the role of nongovernmental organizations when cooperating with industry.
Swot Analysis of "Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters" written by Ulrich Steger, George Radler includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Stewardship Marine facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Joint ventures, Operations management, Organizational culture, Sustainability and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Stewardship Marine, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Stewardship Marine 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 (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Stewardship Marine
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 Stewardship Marine
Strengths Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Stewardship Marine in Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Stewardship Marine 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Stewardship Marine 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 (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Stewardship Marine in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters 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.
High brand equity
– Stewardship Marine has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Stewardship Marine to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Stewardship Marine is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Stewardship Marine digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Stewardship Marine 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Stewardship Marine to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Stewardship Marine to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Stewardship Marine is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Stewardship Marine 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 Stewardship Marine is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Stewardship Marine in the sector have low bargaining power. Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Stewardship Marine to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Stewardship Marine 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.
Weaknesses Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Stewardship Marine 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters, is just above the industry average. Stewardship Marine 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 Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters 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 Stewardship Marine 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Stewardship Marine 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters HBR case study mentions - Stewardship Marine 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ulrich Steger, George Radler suggests that, Stewardship Marine 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Stewardship Marine 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Stewardship Marine 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 (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Stewardship Marine products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Stewardship Marine needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Stewardship Marine supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Stewardship Marine vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters 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 (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Stewardship Marine is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters | 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 (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters are -
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. Stewardship Marine 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. Stewardship Marine 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.
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. Stewardship Marine can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Stewardship Marine 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Stewardship Marine 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Stewardship Marine 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. Stewardship Marine can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Stewardship Marine 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Stewardship Marine 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Stewardship Marine can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Stewardship Marine operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Stewardship Marine 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Stewardship Marine 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 Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Stewardship Marine to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Stewardship Marine has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Stewardship Marine to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters case study. Stewardship Marine can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Stewardship Marine is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters 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 (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters 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 (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters are -
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. Stewardship Marine can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Stewardship Marine can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters .
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 (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters, Stewardship Marine 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 .
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 Stewardship Marine business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Stewardship Marine 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Stewardship Marine 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.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Environmental challenges
– Stewardship Marine 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. Stewardship Marine can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Stewardship Marine with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Stewardship Marine 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Stewardship Marine is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Stewardship Marine 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.
Increasing wage structure of Stewardship Marine
– 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 Stewardship Marine.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Marine Stewardship Council (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters 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 (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters 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 (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters 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 (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters 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 (B): Departing in Uncharted Waters 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 Stewardship Marine needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
