Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (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 include distribution channels, pricing, and new product marketing. Jen Moritz, the marketing manager for Soren Chemical Co. is struggling with the poor sales performance of Coracle, a new clarifier for residential swimming pools. The performance is puzzling because Coracle is chemically similar to another Soren product that has sold well for treatment of larger pools. Soren distributes the other product B2B through "chemical formulators" serving the commercial pools market -- but Soren uses wholesale distributors to sell Coracle. Given the slow start in establishing Coracle as a consumer brand, Moritz suspects that the go-to-market strategy may be flawed, but she is unsure where the problem lies; she examines channel strategy, distribution partners, the Coracle pricing scheme, the threat of competitors' offerings, and other potential problem sources.
Swot Analysis of "Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (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 Coracle Soren facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Communication, Pricing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Coracle Soren, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Coracle Soren 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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Coracle Soren
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 Coracle Soren
Strengths Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Coracle Soren in Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Coracle Soren 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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Coracle Soren in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Coracle Soren is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Coracle Soren is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) 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 Coracle Soren digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Coracle Soren 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Coracle Soren has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Coracle Soren has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Analytics focus
– Coracle Soren 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Coracle Soren to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Coracle Soren to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Coracle Soren 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 Coracle Soren is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Coracle Soren in the sector have low bargaining power. Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Coracle Soren to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (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.
Organizational Resilience of Coracle Soren
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Coracle Soren does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Coracle Soren 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Coracle Soren 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 - Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) 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 Coracle Soren has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case), in the dynamic environment Coracle Soren has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Coracle Soren 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, Coracle Soren 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. Coracle Soren 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Coracle Soren products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Coracle Soren needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Coracle Soren, firm in the HBR case study Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case), it seems that the employees of Coracle Soren 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, V. Kasturi Rangan, Sunru Yong suggests that, Coracle Soren 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Coracle Soren is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Coracle Soren needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Coracle Soren to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Coracle Soren has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Coracle Soren to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) case study. Coracle Soren can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Coracle Soren 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Coracle Soren 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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Coracle Soren to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Coracle Soren can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Coracle Soren operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Coracle Soren 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.
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. Coracle Soren 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. Coracle Soren 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Coracle Soren can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Coracle Soren to increase its market reach. Coracle Soren 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.
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. Coracle Soren 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, Coracle Soren 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Coracle Soren 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Coracle Soren 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, Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Coracle Soren 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 Coracle Soren to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) are -
Increasing wage structure of Coracle Soren
– 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 Coracle Soren.
Environmental challenges
– Coracle Soren 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. Coracle Soren can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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. Coracle Soren needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Coracle Soren 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Coracle Soren with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Coracle Soren 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Coracle Soren 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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) .
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 Coracle Soren.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Coracle Soren 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.
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. Coracle Soren can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Coracle Soren in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (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 Coracle Soren needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
