Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States
Two inexperienced, but strongly committed, entrepreneurs face the hassles of a new venture: exporting dough from Puerto Rico to cities in the United States with large numbers of Puerto Rican immigrants who are longing nostalgically for their beloved pan sobao (bread made with vegetable shortening). With thousands of Puerto Ricans living in and/or moving to the United States and after several incidents of fraud by partners of the entrepreneurs, they are thinking about how to take advantage of what seems to be an opportunity for doing business outside their Caribbean home. These entrepreneurs are confronting several challenges: 1) Preparing to detect opportunities and to get personally involved in a demanding export business 2) Differentiating and positioning the brand in a crowded market. Is a nostalgic feeling enough of a motivator to engage customers with the brand? 3) Deciding whether institution is a substitute for market data and feasibility determination.
Authors :: Victor Quinones, Julia Sagebien, Marisol Perez-Savelli, Eva Perez
Swot Analysis of "Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States" written by Victor Quinones, Julia Sagebien, Marisol Perez-Savelli, Eva Perez includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Puerto Entrepreneurs facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Race and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
wage bills are increasing, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Puerto Entrepreneurs, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Puerto Entrepreneurs 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 Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Puerto Entrepreneurs
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 Puerto Entrepreneurs
Strengths Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Puerto Entrepreneurs in Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Puerto Entrepreneurs 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 Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Puerto Entrepreneurs 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 Puerto Entrepreneurs is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Puerto Entrepreneurs has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States 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.
Organizational Resilience of Puerto Entrepreneurs
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Puerto Entrepreneurs does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Puerto Entrepreneurs is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Puerto Entrepreneurs 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Puerto Entrepreneurs has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Puerto Entrepreneurs 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Puerto Entrepreneurs to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Puerto Entrepreneurs to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Puerto Entrepreneurs has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Puerto Entrepreneurs to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Puerto Entrepreneurs 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 Victor Quinones, Julia Sagebien, Marisol Perez-Savelli, Eva Perez 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.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Puerto Entrepreneurs digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Puerto Entrepreneurs 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Puerto Entrepreneurs 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 Puerto Entrepreneurs in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Victor Quinones, Julia Sagebien, Marisol Perez-Savelli, Eva Perez suggests that, Puerto Entrepreneurs 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Puerto Entrepreneurs is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Puerto Entrepreneurs needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Puerto Entrepreneurs to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Puerto Entrepreneurs 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Puerto Entrepreneurs has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States, in the dynamic environment Puerto Entrepreneurs has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Puerto Entrepreneurs has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States 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 Puerto Entrepreneurs has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Puerto Entrepreneurs 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 - Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Puerto Entrepreneurs 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States, 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 Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States, is just above the industry average. Puerto Entrepreneurs 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Puerto Entrepreneurs, firm in the HBR case study Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States | 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 Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States are -
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 Puerto Entrepreneurs to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Buying journey improvements
– Puerto Entrepreneurs can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Puerto Entrepreneurs is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Puerto Entrepreneurs 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, Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– Puerto Entrepreneurs 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Puerto Entrepreneurs 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Puerto Entrepreneurs 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Puerto Entrepreneurs 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 Puerto Entrepreneurs 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. Puerto Entrepreneurs can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Puerto Entrepreneurs can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Puerto Entrepreneurs 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.
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 Puerto Entrepreneurs in the consumer business. Now Puerto Entrepreneurs can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States are -
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 Puerto Entrepreneurs business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Puerto Entrepreneurs
– 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 Puerto Entrepreneurs.
Regulatory challenges
– Puerto Entrepreneurs 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Puerto Entrepreneurs 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. Puerto Entrepreneurs can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Puerto Entrepreneurs 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
– Puerto Entrepreneurs 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Puerto Entrepreneurs in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Puerto Entrepreneurs 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, Puerto Entrepreneurs 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 Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States .
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. Puerto Entrepreneurs 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.
Environmental challenges
– Puerto Entrepreneurs 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. Puerto Entrepreneurs can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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. Puerto Entrepreneurs needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States 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 Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States 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 Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States 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 Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States 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 Pan Boricua: Developing a Market Strategy for the Hispanic Market in the United States 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 Puerto Entrepreneurs needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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