Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change
Maple Leaf Foods is a leading global food processing company with operations in Canada, the United States, Europe, and Asia. The CEO and vice-president of Six Sigma (an approach and methodology for eliminating defects in any process) embarks on a revolutionary journey in this previously change-resistant multinational food business to upgrade the firm's leadership capabilities. The project was rolled out to three of the 10 independent operating companies, and he must analyze the launch to determine whether it is on track and what can be done differently or better.
Swot Analysis of "Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change" written by Brian Golden, Ken Mark includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Leaf Maple facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Managing people, Organizational structure and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Leaf Maple, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Leaf Maple 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 Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Leaf Maple
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 Leaf Maple
Strengths Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Leaf Maple in Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Leaf Maple is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change 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
– Leaf Maple 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 Leaf Maple digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Leaf Maple 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change 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.
Training and development
– Leaf Maple has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Leaf Maple is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change 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
– Leaf Maple 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 Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Leaf Maple 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Leaf Maple to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Leaf Maple to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Leaf Maple has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Leaf Maple to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Leaf Maple in the sector have low bargaining power. Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Leaf Maple to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Leaf Maple
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Leaf Maple does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Leaf Maple 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Leaf Maple products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Leaf Maple needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Leaf Maple 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change 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 Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Leaf Maple is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change, in the dynamic environment Leaf Maple has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Leaf Maple has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Leaf Maple 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 - Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change 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 Leaf Maple 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Leaf Maple is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Leaf Maple needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Leaf Maple to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Leaf Maple 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. Leaf Maple 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.
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 Leaf Maple supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Leaf Maple vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change HBR case study mentions - Leaf Maple 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 Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change | 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 Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change are -
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. Leaf Maple 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. Leaf Maple 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Leaf Maple 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 Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Leaf Maple to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Leaf Maple 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Leaf Maple 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Leaf Maple 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, Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Leaf Maple can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Leaf Maple 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Leaf Maple to increase its market reach. Leaf Maple 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Leaf Maple is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change 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 Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Leaf Maple can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Leaf Maple in the consumer business. Now Leaf Maple can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Leaf Maple has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Leaf Maple to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change case study. Leaf Maple can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Leaf Maple in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Organizational Development segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change are -
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. Leaf Maple needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Leaf Maple can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Leaf Maple is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Leaf Maple.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Leaf Maple 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Leaf Maple 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 Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Leaf Maple has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Leaf Maple 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.
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. Leaf Maple 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 wage structure of Leaf Maple
– 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 Leaf Maple.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change, Leaf Maple 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 .
Environmental challenges
– Leaf Maple 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. Leaf Maple can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Leaf Maple with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Leaf Maple 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 Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change 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 Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change 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 Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change 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 Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change 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 Maple Leaf Foods (A): Leading Six Sigma Change 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 Leaf Maple needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.