Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century
In July 2001, Campbell Soup's newly appointed CEO, Douglas R. Conant, addressed a group of Wall Street analysts and unveiled his plan to kick-start growth. His plan called for organizational renewal and revitalization, redesign of core customer-facing processes including supply chain, order fulfillment, and customer service of Campbell's U.S. soup business. Condensed soup sales, which represented nearly 50% of the company's total operating profit, had been in decline for several years and the company was slowly losing market share in this core product group as competition intensified. Pressure had mounted from major competitor General Mills, which had recently acquired Pillsbury Co., maker of Campbell's rival soup brand Progresso. .
Swot Analysis of "Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century" written by Lynda M. Applegate, Jamie Ladge includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Soup Campbell's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competition, Leadership, Organizational culture and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century casestudy better are - – technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Soup Campbell's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Soup Campbell's 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 Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Soup Campbell's
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 Soup Campbell's
Strengths Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Soup Campbell's in Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Soup Campbell's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Soup Campbell's 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 Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Soup Campbell's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Soup Campbell's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Soup Campbell's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– Soup Campbell's 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 Lynda M. Applegate, Jamie Ladge 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.
Training and development
– Soup Campbell's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Soup Campbell's in the sector have low bargaining power. Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Soup Campbell's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Soup Campbell's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Soup Campbell's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Soup Campbell's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Soup Campbell's 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 Organizational Development industry
– Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Soup Campbell's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Soup Campbell's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Soup Campbell's has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Weaknesses Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century 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 Soup Campbell's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century, is just above the industry average. Soup Campbell's 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Soup Campbell's 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 - Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Soup Campbell's 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century, it seems that the employees of Soup Campbell's 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Soup Campbell's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Soup Campbell's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Soup Campbell's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century, in the dynamic environment Soup Campbell's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Soup Campbell's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Lack of clear differentiation of Soup Campbell's products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Soup Campbell's needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century 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 Soup Campbell's 's lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Soup Campbell's, firm in the HBR case study Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century HBR case study mentions - Soup Campbell's 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.
Opportunities Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century | 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 Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century are -
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 Soup Campbell's 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Soup Campbell's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Soup Campbell's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century case study. Soup Campbell's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Soup Campbell's 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.
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. Soup Campbell's 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 Soup Campbell's 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 Soup Campbell's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Soup Campbell's can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Organizational Development 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Organizational Development industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Soup Campbell's 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. Soup Campbell's 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 Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Soup Campbell's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Soup Campbell's 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Soup Campbell's 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, Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Soup Campbell's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Soup Campbell's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Soup Campbell's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Soup Campbell's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Soup Campbell's is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Organizational Development field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Soup Campbell's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Soup Campbell's.
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 Soup Campbell's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Soup Campbell's 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 Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century .
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 Soup Campbell's in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Soup Campbell's 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. Soup Campbell's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Soup Campbell's 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Soup Campbell's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Soup Campbell's 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.
Increasing wage structure of Soup Campbell's
– 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 Soup Campbell's.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Soup Campbell's 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century 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 Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century 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 Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century 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 Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century 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 Campbell Soup Co.: Transforming for the 21st Century 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 Soup Campbell's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.