Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor
The case explores value-driven strategy formulation and implementation by bringing to the fore issues of ethics, responsible leadership, social intitiatives in emerging markets and the global-local tensions in corporate social responsibility. It examines how Bayer CropScience addressed the issue of child labour in its cotton seed supply chain in rural India between 2002 and 2008. Bayer had been operating in India for more than a century. In December 2002, the Bayer Group completed the acquisition of India-based Aventis CropScience. Bayer CropScience first learned about the incidence and prevalence of the child labour in its newly acquired India-based cotton seed operations a few months post acquisition, in April 2003. The Aventis acquisition had brought onboard a well-known Indian company, Proagro, which already had operations in the cotton seed production and marketing - a new segment of the supply chain for Bayer. Child labour was widespread in cotton seed production - a traditional practice taken for granted not only by Indian farmers but also by several hundred Indian companies then accounting for approximately 90 per cent of the market share. The (A) case focuses on Bayer's decision whether, when and how to launch a self-run program that would take direct responsibility for tracking and eradicating child labour in rural India.
Authors :: Satyajeet Subramanian, Charles Dhanaraj, Oana Branzei
Swot Analysis of "Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor" written by Satyajeet Subramanian, Charles Dhanaraj, Oana Branzei includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bayer Cropscience facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Cross-cultural management, Emerging markets, Leadership, Social responsibility, Strategy and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bayer Cropscience, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bayer Cropscience 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 Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bayer Cropscience
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 Bayer Cropscience
Strengths Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bayer Cropscience in Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bayer Cropscience digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bayer Cropscience 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 Bayer Cropscience
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bayer Cropscience does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Bayer Cropscience 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 Bayer Cropscience is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bayer Cropscience in the sector have low bargaining power. Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bayer Cropscience to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bayer Cropscience 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 Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Bayer Cropscience is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Bayer Cropscience is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bayer Cropscience is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Bayer Cropscience in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bayer Cropscience to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bayer Cropscience to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Bayer Cropscience is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bayer Cropscience is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor 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 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 Bayer Cropscience supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Bayer Cropscience vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Bayer Cropscience 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor, in the dynamic environment Bayer Cropscience has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bayer Cropscience has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor 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 Bayer Cropscience 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Bayer Cropscience products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Bayer Cropscience needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor 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 Bayer Cropscience has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor HBR case study mentions - Bayer Cropscience 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor 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 Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bayer Cropscience is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Bayer Cropscience 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Bayer Cropscience 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. Bayer Cropscience 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.
Opportunities Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor | 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 Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Bayer Cropscience 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Bayer Cropscience 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Bayer Cropscience 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 Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bayer Cropscience to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bayer Cropscience 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bayer Cropscience to increase its market reach. Bayer Cropscience 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Bayer Cropscience 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Bayer Cropscience can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bayer Cropscience 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bayer Cropscience 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. Bayer Cropscience can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Bayer Cropscience 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 Bayer Cropscience to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bayer Cropscience 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, Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Bayer Cropscience in the consumer business. Now Bayer Cropscience can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Bayer Cropscience 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 Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bayer Cropscience 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bayer Cropscience with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Bayer Cropscience needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Bayer Cropscience 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.
Environmental challenges
– Bayer Cropscience 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. Bayer Cropscience 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 Bayer Cropscience.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bayer Cropscience demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bayer Cropscience 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Bayer Cropscience 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.
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 Bayer Cropscience in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Bayer Cropscience has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bayer Cropscience 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bayer Cropscience 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 Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor 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 Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor 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 Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor 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 Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor 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 Bayer CropScience in India (A): Against Child Labor 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 Bayer Cropscience needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
