The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine
Secret societies have intrigued humanity since earliest times. In this article we explore secret societies in the context of wine and how these institutions might be insightful in formulating marketing strategies. We contrast the characteristics of secret societies with those of existing secret wine societies such as The Wine Society and La ConfrA?rie. Yet while some of these functions and characteristics transfer well, many 'secret' wine societies aren't actually that secret. Some of the characteristics of secret societies are also found in consumer brand communities. Armed with this knowledge, wine marketers can exploit the characteristics of secret societies to target market segments with precision and to gain the benefits of focused distribution opportunities.
Authors :: Daniel Hall, Leyland Pitt, Asa Wallstrom
Swot Analysis of "The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine" written by Daniel Hall, Leyland Pitt, Asa Wallstrom includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Societies Secret facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Societies Secret, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Societies Secret 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 The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Societies Secret
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 Societies Secret
Strengths The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Societies Secret in The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Societies Secret has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Societies Secret has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Societies Secret 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Societies Secret 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Societies Secret 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 The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Societies Secret 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.
Learning organization
- Societies Secret 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 Societies Secret is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Societies Secret digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Societies Secret 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.
Analytics focus
– Societies Secret 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 Daniel Hall, Leyland Pitt, Asa Wallstrom can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Diverse revenue streams
– Societies Secret is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Societies Secret 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 The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Societies Secret in the sector have low bargaining power. The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Societies Secret to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Societies Secret has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Daniel Hall, Leyland Pitt, Asa Wallstrom suggests that, Societies Secret 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.
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 Societies Secret supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Societies Secret vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Societies Secret, firm in the HBR case study The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine 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 Societies Secret has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine, 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine, is just above the industry average. Societies Secret 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Societies Secret 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine HBR case study mentions - Societies Secret takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Societies Secret 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine, in the dynamic environment Societies Secret has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Societies Secret has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine | 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 The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine are -
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. Societies Secret can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Societies Secret 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.
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. Societies Secret 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. Societies Secret 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Societies Secret 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 Societies Secret to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Societies Secret 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Societies Secret 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Societies Secret in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Societies Secret can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Societies Secret can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Societies Secret has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Societies Secret to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine case study. Societies Secret can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Societies Secret to increase its market reach. Societies Secret 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Societies Secret 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Societies Secret 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 The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Societies Secret has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Societies Secret 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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Societies Secret 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. Societies Secret can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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 Societies Secret in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Societies Secret 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Societies Secret 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.
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. Societies Secret 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 wage structure of Societies Secret
– 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 Societies Secret.
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 Societies Secret business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Societies Secret.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Societies Secret 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine, Societies Secret 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 .
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine 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 The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine 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 The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine 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 The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine 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 The secrets of secret societies: The case of wine 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 Societies Secret needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
