Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan
The Just Us! worker cooperative has been in business since the mid-1990s. Founded by Jeff and Debra Moore, this company with an economic and social mission has sought to make its mark in the business world by trumpeting its "humanitarian" positioning through the slogan: "People and the planet before profits." In addition to operating four coffeehouses (two in Halifax, one in Wolfville and one in its Grand-PrA? headquarters), Just Us! sells its products (mainly fair trade and organic coffee, tea, chocolate and sugar) via a distribution network. Although the company was prospering, the financial crisis of fall 2008, which triggered an economic recession, quickly prompted the management committee to consider producing a marketing plan for the coming year, to optimize the use of the organization's resources. Pauline, hired by Just Us! slightly more than two years earlier, was assigned this task. Her work at the co-op was so impressive that she had recently been promoted to director of marketing and sales.
Swot Analysis of "Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan" written by Normand Turgeon includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Op Coffee facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Op Coffee, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Op Coffee 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 Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Op Coffee
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 Op Coffee
Strengths Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Op Coffee in Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Op Coffee to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Op Coffee to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Op Coffee is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Op Coffee 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 Op Coffee is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Op Coffee 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 Normand Turgeon 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.
Organizational Resilience of Op Coffee
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Op Coffee does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Op Coffee is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Op Coffee is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Op Coffee is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Op Coffee in the sector have low bargaining power. Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Op Coffee to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Op Coffee in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Op Coffee has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan 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.
Weaknesses Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan, 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Op Coffee is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Op Coffee 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 Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan, it seems that the employees of Op Coffee 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan, in the dynamic environment Op Coffee has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Op Coffee has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Op Coffee supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Op Coffee vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan 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 Op Coffee has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Op Coffee 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 - Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Op Coffee 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan 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 Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Op Coffee is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Op Coffee needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Opportunities Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan | 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 Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan are -
Buying journey improvements
– Op Coffee can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Op Coffee 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Op Coffee has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Op Coffee to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan case study. Op Coffee can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Op Coffee 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Op Coffee 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Op Coffee 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 Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Op Coffee to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Op Coffee 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Op Coffee 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 Op Coffee to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Op Coffee is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Op Coffee 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, Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Op Coffee can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Op Coffee can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Op Coffee operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Op Coffee 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.
Threats Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan are -
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Environmental challenges
– Op Coffee 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. Op Coffee can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Op Coffee 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.
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. Op Coffee can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Op Coffee 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.
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. Op Coffee needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Op Coffee.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Op Coffee is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Op Coffee in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Op Coffee 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Op Coffee with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Op Coffee 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 Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan 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 Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan 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 Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan 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 Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan 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 Just Us! Coffee Roasters Co-op - Coffeehouse Division Marketing Plan 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 Op Coffee needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.