Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever
In the months after Ben & Jerry's was acquired by Unilever, Ben & Jerry's head social mission faces challenges and opportunities unique in the company's history, including: how to manage employee morale; whether to include synthetic ingredients to meet consumer preferences; how to preserve the company's tradition of speaking out on public issues; and how to maintain the company's distinctive brand image. Also, depicts an innovative corporate governance model with an external board comprising former Ben & Jerry's executives to advise the new CEO on managing the company's distinctive brand and values.
Swot Analysis of "Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever" written by James E. Austin, James Quinn includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Jerry's Ben facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate governance, Innovation, Mergers & acquisitions, Motivating people, Organizational culture, Social enterprise and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Jerry's Ben, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Jerry's Ben 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 Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Jerry's Ben
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Jerry's Ben
Strengths Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Jerry's Ben in Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Jerry's Ben has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Jerry's Ben 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Jerry's Ben is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Jerry's Ben
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Jerry's Ben does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Jerry's Ben 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 Jerry's Ben in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Jerry's Ben digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Jerry's Ben 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Jerry's Ben is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Jerry's Ben in the sector have low bargaining power. Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Jerry's Ben to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Jerry's Ben in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Jerry's Ben 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 Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Jerry's Ben 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 James E. Austin, James Quinn can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Weaknesses Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever, in the dynamic environment Jerry's Ben has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Jerry's Ben 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 Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever 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 Jerry's Ben 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Jerry's Ben 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever, is just above the industry average. Jerry's Ben 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Jerry's Ben 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 Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Organizational Development 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Jerry's Ben 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. Jerry's Ben 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever 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 Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Jerry's Ben is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Jerry's Ben 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Jerry's Ben 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 - Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Jerry's Ben 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.
Opportunities Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever | 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 Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Jerry's Ben 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Jerry's Ben has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Jerry's Ben to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever case study. Jerry's Ben can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Jerry's Ben can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Jerry's Ben 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Jerry's Ben 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 Jerry's Ben to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Jerry's Ben can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Jerry's Ben 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 Organizational Development segment.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Jerry's Ben to increase its market reach. Jerry's Ben 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.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Jerry's Ben to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
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. Jerry's Ben can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Jerry's Ben can develop new processes and procedures in Organizational Development 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Jerry's Ben is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Jerry's Ben can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Jerry's Ben operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Threats Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Jerry's Ben is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever, Jerry's Ben may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Jerry's Ben 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.
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. Jerry's Ben needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Jerry's Ben 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 Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Jerry's Ben 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.
Environmental challenges
– Jerry's Ben 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. Jerry's Ben can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Jerry's Ben has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Jerry's Ben needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Organizational Development 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Jerry's Ben in the Organizational Development industry. The Organizational Development 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.
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 Jerry's Ben in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Jerry's Ben
– 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 Jerry's Ben.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Jerry's Ben 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 Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever 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 Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever 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 Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever 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 Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever 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 Ben & Jerry's: Preserving Mission & Brand Within Unilever 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 Jerry's Ben needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.