Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen?
After significant growth in 2013 when Hostess Baking, a major competitor, declared bankruptcy, Carolina Foods, Inc.'s CEO, Paul Scarborough, wanted to develop a strategy to maintain that level of growth for his family's 80-year-old commercial bakery and its Duchess brand. Hostess brands were purchased by various other commercial bakeries, and the Twinkie, an iconic American snack cake, was back on the market. CFI's Duchess family brand of baked sweet goods included honey buns, donuts and pies manufactured in the original factory in Charlotte, NC, and distributed to markets across the USA, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico. Consumer tastes were changing: Snacking in general was increasing and consumers were increasingly focused on healthy, or at least healthier, snacks. Social media was changing the marketing landscape: Could honey buns, donuts and pies be sold on line? Baked sweet goods firms were steadily consolidating across the nation. At CFI, no new products had been introduced over the past twenty years, the company did not have any dedicated marketing personnel, and no marketing budget was allocated (a sales budget did exist). Students can apply numerous basic marketing principles and tools to analyze and choose a viable marketing strategy for CFI. What strategy should CFI pursue for growth? Students may consider new product development, branding, market penetration, and market development, including changes in distribution strategies.
Swot Analysis of "Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen?" written by Tamara L. Cohen, Linda Swayne includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cfi Duchess facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Manufacturing, Pricing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cfi Duchess, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cfi Duchess 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 Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cfi Duchess
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 Cfi Duchess
Strengths Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cfi Duchess in Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Cfi Duchess 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 Cfi Duchess is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cfi Duchess to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cfi Duchess to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? 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.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cfi Duchess digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cfi Duchess 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.
High brand equity
– Cfi Duchess has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cfi Duchess to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cfi Duchess 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Cfi Duchess is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Cfi Duchess has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Cfi Duchess 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.
Organizational Resilience of Cfi Duchess
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cfi Duchess does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Cfi Duchess 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cfi Duchess is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cfi Duchess is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? HBR case study mentions - Cfi Duchess 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? 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 Cfi Duchess has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Cfi Duchess 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Cfi Duchess is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Cfi Duchess needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Cfi Duchess to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cfi Duchess 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 - Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? 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 Cfi Duchess, firm in the HBR case study Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Cfi Duchess 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen?, is just above the industry average. Cfi Duchess 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Cfi Duchess 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. Cfi Duchess 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cfi Duchess 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cfi Duchess is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? | 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 Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cfi Duchess 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.
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. Cfi Duchess can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Cfi Duchess 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 Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cfi Duchess to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Cfi Duchess 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.
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. Cfi Duchess can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cfi Duchess 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, Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Cfi Duchess can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cfi Duchess operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cfi Duchess can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Cfi Duchess 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. Cfi Duchess 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 Cfi Duchess 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 Cfi Duchess to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cfi Duchess can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cfi Duchess has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cfi Duchess to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? case study. Cfi Duchess can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cfi Duchess 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.
Threats Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? are -
Increasing wage structure of Cfi Duchess
– 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 Cfi Duchess.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen?, Cfi Duchess 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 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
– Cfi Duchess 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. Cfi Duchess can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Cfi Duchess needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
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. Cfi Duchess can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Cfi Duchess 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 Cfi Duchess.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Cfi Duchess 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.
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. Cfi Duchess 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cfi Duchess is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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. Cfi Duchess needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? 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 Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? 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 Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? 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 Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? 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 Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? 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 Cfi Duchess needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
