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TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case)


When students have the English-language PDF of this Brief Case in a coursepack, they will also have the option to purchase an audio version.Topics covered include: consumer marketing, market research, new product introduction, and quantitative analysis. TruEarth Healthy Foods, a maker of gourmet pastas, sauces, and meals, wants to build on its successful introduction of fresh whole grain pasta by introducing a similar product concept for pizza. In an increasingly competitive market, TruEarth is focused on beating its competition and wants to act quickly and decisively. The company conducts extensive market research, first using focus groups to test the concept and then following up with take-home trials. Acting as brand managers, students must complete a quantitative analysis of the available data to project the sales volume for pizza and then decide whether to bring the new product to market.

Authors :: V. Kasturi Rangan, Sunru Yong

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

Tags :: Market research, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case)" written by V. Kasturi Rangan, Sunru Yong includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Truearth Pizza facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Market research and Sales & Marketing.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case)


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Truearth Pizza, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Truearth Pizza 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 TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Truearth Pizza
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Truearth Pizza




Strengths TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Truearth Pizza in TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) Harvard Business Review case study are -

Organizational Resilience of Truearth Pizza

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Truearth Pizza does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Truearth Pizza is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry

– TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Truearth Pizza to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Truearth Pizza to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Truearth Pizza has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) 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 Sales & Marketing segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Truearth Pizza digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Truearth Pizza 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.

Training and development

– Truearth Pizza has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) 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.

Learning organization

- Truearth Pizza 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 Truearth Pizza is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field

– Truearth Pizza 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 Truearth Pizza in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Strong track record of project management

– Truearth Pizza is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Truearth Pizza 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 TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Analytics focus

– Truearth Pizza 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 V. Kasturi Rangan, Sunru Yong 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 TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) are -

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Truearth Pizza is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Truearth Pizza needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Truearth Pizza to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, V. Kasturi Rangan, Sunru Yong suggests that, Truearth Pizza is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Truearth Pizza 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.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Truearth Pizza 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.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Truearth Pizza 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case), in the dynamic environment Truearth Pizza has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Truearth Pizza has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Truearth Pizza 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. Truearth Pizza 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.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case), it seems that the employees of Truearth Pizza 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Truearth Pizza, firm in the HBR case study TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing 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.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Truearth Pizza has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.




Opportunities TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) | 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 TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) are -

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Truearth Pizza 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, TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case), 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. Truearth Pizza can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Finding new ways to collaborate

– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Truearth Pizza can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Truearth Pizza in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Truearth Pizza is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) 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 Truearth Pizza can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Manufacturing automation

– Truearth Pizza can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Truearth Pizza 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Truearth Pizza can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Truearth Pizza operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.

Loyalty marketing

– Truearth Pizza 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.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Truearth Pizza 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. Truearth Pizza 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

– Truearth Pizza 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 TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Truearth Pizza to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Truearth Pizza 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 Truearth Pizza to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.




Threats TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) are -

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case), Truearth Pizza may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .

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.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Truearth Pizza with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Truearth Pizza has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Truearth Pizza needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing 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.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Truearth Pizza 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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Truearth Pizza 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.

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 Truearth Pizza business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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. Truearth Pizza needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Truearth Pizza is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Truearth Pizza 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 TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) .

Environmental challenges

– Truearth Pizza 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. Truearth Pizza can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.

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 Truearth Pizza in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Regulatory challenges

– Truearth Pizza 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 Sales & Marketing industry regulations.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) 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 TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) 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 TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) 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 TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) 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 TruEarth Healthy Foods: Market Research for a New Product Introduction (Brief Case) 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 Truearth Pizza needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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