SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash

This case centers on SC Johnson's CEO, H. Fisk Johnson, and his decision on how to move forward with Greenlista?? after the settlement of two lawsuits. SC Johnson developed the ingredient improvement process Greenlista?? to reduce the negative environmental impacts of its products by substituting less harmful ingredients wherever possible. Significant environmental improvements were made in many of the company's products, such as WindexA?, and the company developed a Greenlista?? label to demonstrate to consumers that a product had been improved by the process. In 2008 and 2009, two lawsuits were filed accusing SC Johnson of deceptively marketing its products as "green", as the Greenlista?? label led consumers to believe the products had been certified by an objective third party. The lawsuits were settled and the company was forced to remove the label. The case raises a discussion about green labeling, the nature of environmental certification, and the value of internal sustainability initiatives.

Authors :: Andrew Hoffman

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

Tags :: Public relations, Social responsibility, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash" written by Andrew Hoffman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Greenlista Sc facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Public relations, Social responsibility and Sales & Marketing.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Greenlista Sc, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Greenlista Sc 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Greenlista Sc
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 Greenlista Sc

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Strengths SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Greenlista Sc in SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash Harvard Business Review case study are -

Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field

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

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Greenlista Sc in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash 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.

Training and development

– Greenlista Sc has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash 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 Greenlista Sc in the sector have low bargaining power. SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Greenlista Sc to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Greenlista Sc 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 SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Diverse revenue streams

– Greenlista Sc is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash 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.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Greenlista Sc 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Greenlista Sc 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 SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Analytics focus

– Greenlista Sc 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 Andrew Hoffman 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 Greenlista Sc

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

Innovation driven organization

– Greenlista Sc is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

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Weaknesses SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash are -

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Andrew Hoffman suggests that, Greenlista Sc 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.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Greenlista Sc is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash 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 Greenlista Sc has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash 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 SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Greenlista Sc is planning to shift buying processes online.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash 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 Greenlista Sc 's lucrative customers.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash, in the dynamic environment Greenlista Sc has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Greenlista Sc has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash, is just above the industry average. Greenlista Sc needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.

Need for greater diversity

– Greenlista Sc 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.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Greenlista Sc 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Greenlista Sc, firm in the HBR case study SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Greenlista Sc 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. Greenlista Sc 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.

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Opportunities SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash | 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 SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash are -

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. Greenlista Sc can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Developing new processes and practices

– Greenlista Sc 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 Greenlista Sc can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

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 Greenlista Sc 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

– Greenlista Sc 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 SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Greenlista Sc to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

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 Greenlista Sc in the consumer business. Now Greenlista Sc can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Greenlista Sc 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Greenlista Sc is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Greenlista Sc 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Greenlista Sc 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.

Buying journey improvements

– Greenlista Sc can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Greenlista Sc 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 Greenlista Sc 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 Greenlista Sc to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

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Threats SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash are -

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 Greenlista Sc in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Barriers of entry lowering

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

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Greenlista Sc 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 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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Greenlista Sc 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 SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash .

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Greenlista Sc has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Greenlista Sc 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.

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. Greenlista Sc can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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

Shortening product life cycle

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

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 Greenlista Sc business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Environmental challenges

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

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash, Greenlista Sc 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 .

Consumer confidence and its impact on Greenlista Sc 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.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash 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 SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash 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 SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash 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 SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash 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 SC Johnson and the Greenlist Backlash 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 Greenlista Sc needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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