Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children
In response to growing concern about childhood obesity, in February 2006 the Council of Better Business Bureaus (CBBB) announced an initiative to examine its self-regulatory program on children's advertising. The existing program was a voluntary cross-industry program that monitored advertisements directed to children. However, the program did not stipulate which products companies could or could not advertise to children. In response to calls for action on childhood obesity, the CBBB was considering a number of approaches, including revising children's advertising guidelines, but staying within the basic parameters of the current program. Alternatively, the CBBB was considering launching a new self-regulatory program in which participating firms would constrain the amount of their children-targeted advertising of less-nutritious products. It was widely believed that children's food advertising was a major contributor to childhood obesity, and within the food-advertising category, considerable attention was directed to advertisements of children's presweetened cereals. The major ready-to-eat (RTE) cereal manufacturers, such as Kellogg's and General Mills, were supporters of the CBBB self-regulation programs and were invited to participate in the CBBB initiative. Each manufacturer had been taking different individual approaches to address the concerns of childhood obesity. The case discussion focuses on what actions General Mills should take with respect to the CBBB initiative and on its own.
Authors :: Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Dennis Yao, Britta Kelley, Lizzie Gomez
Swot Analysis of "Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children" written by Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Dennis Yao, Britta Kelley, Lizzie Gomez includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cbbb Obesity facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Regulation, Strategy and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cbbb Obesity, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cbbb Obesity 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 Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cbbb Obesity
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 Cbbb Obesity
Strengths Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cbbb Obesity in Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Cbbb Obesity has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children 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 Cbbb Obesity in the sector have low bargaining power. Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cbbb Obesity to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cbbb Obesity is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children 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 Cbbb Obesity
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cbbb Obesity does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Cbbb Obesity is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children 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 lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Cbbb Obesity 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 Cbbb Obesity in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cbbb Obesity 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 Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cbbb Obesity 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.
Analytics focus
– Cbbb Obesity 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 Felix Oberholzer-Gee, Dennis Yao, Britta Kelley, Lizzie Gomez 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cbbb Obesity is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children 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.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cbbb Obesity digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cbbb Obesity 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.
Weaknesses Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children 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 Cbbb Obesity 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Cbbb Obesity is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Cbbb Obesity needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Cbbb Obesity to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Cbbb Obesity 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children 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 Cbbb Obesity has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Cbbb Obesity 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 Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children, 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children, it seems that the employees of Cbbb Obesity 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children 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 Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cbbb Obesity is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Cbbb Obesity supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cbbb Obesity vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cbbb Obesity 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Cbbb Obesity, firm in the HBR case study Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children | 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 Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Cbbb Obesity is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children 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.
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 Cbbb Obesity in the consumer business. Now Cbbb Obesity can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Cbbb Obesity 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. Cbbb Obesity 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Cbbb Obesity 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cbbb Obesity can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cbbb Obesity can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cbbb Obesity 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cbbb Obesity 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cbbb Obesity 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 Sales & Marketing segment.
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 Cbbb Obesity 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cbbb Obesity 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cbbb Obesity to increase its market reach. Cbbb Obesity 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Cbbb Obesity can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children 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.
Threats Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children are -
Regulatory challenges
– Cbbb Obesity 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cbbb Obesity in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing 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.
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 Cbbb Obesity demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
High 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. Cbbb Obesity needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing 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, Cbbb Obesity 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 Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children .
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 Cbbb Obesity in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Cbbb Obesity business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Cbbb Obesity
– 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 Cbbb Obesity.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Cbbb Obesity can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Cbbb Obesity 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. Cbbb Obesity can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cbbb Obesity 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cbbb Obesity has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cbbb Obesity 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children 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 Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children 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 Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children 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 Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children 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 Sweet Deal -- Industry Self-Regulation of Breakfast Cereal Advertising To Children 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 Cbbb Obesity needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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