Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton
Discusses the joint venture between two companies with different capabilities: 1) technology provider and 2) transportation agent. Discusses how to capture value from joint venture and biotechnology: 1) who are winners and who are losers; 2) how much value can/should be captured; 3) sustainability issues; 4) implications for agriculture/agchem industry/relationships between supply chain members. Delta & Pine and Monsanto are licensing a new technology cotton seed. They must decide how to do it and how to evaluate its success.
Swot Analysis of "Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton" written by Ray A. Goldberg, Charlotte Tasker includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Pine Cotton facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Pine Cotton, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Pine Cotton 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 Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Pine Cotton
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 Pine Cotton
Strengths Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Pine Cotton in Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Pine Cotton is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Pine Cotton 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
– Pine Cotton 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 Ray A. Goldberg, Charlotte Tasker 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Pine Cotton 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 Pine Cotton in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Pine Cotton 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 Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Pine Cotton is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Pine Cotton in the sector have low bargaining power. Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Pine Cotton to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Pine Cotton in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Pine Cotton has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Pine Cotton to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Pine Cotton 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 Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Pine Cotton to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Pine Cotton to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Pine Cotton needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Need for greater diversity
– Pine Cotton 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 Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton 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 Pine Cotton 's lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Pine Cotton is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Pine Cotton 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.
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 Pine Cotton supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Pine Cotton vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton HBR case study mentions - Pine Cotton 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton, 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Pine Cotton is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Pine Cotton needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Pine Cotton to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton, it seems that the employees of Pine Cotton don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Pine Cotton 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.
Opportunities Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton | 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 Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton 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. Pine Cotton 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. Pine Cotton 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Pine Cotton 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Pine Cotton 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 Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Pine Cotton to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Pine Cotton can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Pine Cotton can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Leadership & Managing People segment.
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. Pine Cotton can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Pine Cotton 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, Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Pine Cotton is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton 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.
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. Pine Cotton can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– Pine Cotton 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Pine Cotton to increase its market reach. Pine Cotton 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 Pine Cotton in the consumer business. Now Pine Cotton can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Pine Cotton 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.
Threats Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton 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 Pine Cotton.
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. Pine Cotton can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Pine Cotton 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 Pine Cotton in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton, Pine Cotton 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 Pine Cotton business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Pine Cotton has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Pine Cotton 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.
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. Pine Cotton 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Pine Cotton 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 Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton .
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. Pine Cotton needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Pine Cotton
– 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 Pine Cotton.
Regulatory challenges
– Pine Cotton 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Pine Cotton 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 Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton 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 Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton 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 Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton 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 Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton 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 Delta & Pine Land: Measuring the Value of Transgenic Cotton 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 Pine Cotton needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
