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 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 - – wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, 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 -
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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Coracle Soren 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.
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.
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.
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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Coracle Soren is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (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.
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.
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.
Strong track record of project management
– Coracle Soren is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Coracle Soren are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Training and development
– Coracle Soren has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (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.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Coracle Soren 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.
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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) 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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Coracle Soren is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Coracle Soren has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
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.
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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) 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 Coracle Soren 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Coracle Soren 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 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.
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.
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. Coracle Soren can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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.
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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Coracle Soren 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Coracle Soren is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (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 Coracle Soren can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Coracle Soren 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Coracle Soren 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.
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.
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.
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 Coracle Soren 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. Coracle Soren needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case), Coracle Soren 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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Coracle Soren has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Coracle Soren 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.
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.
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) .
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.