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 - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
geopolitical disruptions, increasing commodity prices, 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 -
Analytics focus
– Cfi Duchess 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 Tamara L. Cohen, Linda Swayne 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.
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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Cfi Duchess 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 Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? - 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 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.
Training and development
– Cfi Duchess has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? 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.
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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cfi Duchess 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 Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Cfi Duchess 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 Cfi Duchess in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cfi Duchess in the sector have low bargaining power. Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cfi Duchess to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen?, in the dynamic environment Cfi Duchess has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cfi Duchess has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Cfi Duchess 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Cfi Duchess 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen?, it seems that the employees of Cfi Duchess 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Cfi Duchess 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen?, 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.
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 -
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.
Manufacturing automation
– Cfi Duchess 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Cfi Duchess 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.
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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cfi Duchess 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Cfi Duchess 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.
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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cfi Duchess 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 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 -
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 Cfi Duchess in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cfi Duchess 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 Cfi Duchess 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cfi Duchess 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 Carolina Foods, Inc.: Can the Duchess Become Queen? .
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.
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 .
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.