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Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B)


A consumer attitude survey involving more than 1,000 cranberry users has been conducted. Multivariate statistical procedures including factor analysis, cluster analysis and multiple discriminant analysis have been employed to suggest four attitude segments in the marketplace. The research team has suggested changes in product and advertising strategy. What should management do next? Provides an example of psychographic research procedures applied to a commodity grocery product. No special statistical competence is assumed on the part of the student.

Authors :: F. Stewart Debruicker, Jan-Erik Modig

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

Tags :: Market research, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B)" written by F. Stewart Debruicker, Jan-Erik Modig includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Attitude Statistical facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Market research and Sales & Marketing.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B)


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Attitude Statistical, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Attitude Statistical 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 Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Attitude Statistical
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 Attitude Statistical




Strengths Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Attitude Statistical in Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -

High brand equity

– Attitude Statistical has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Attitude Statistical to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Attitude Statistical is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Analytics focus

– Attitude Statistical 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 F. Stewart Debruicker, Jan-Erik Modig 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Attitude Statistical in the sector have low bargaining power. Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Attitude Statistical to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Learning organization

- Attitude Statistical 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 Attitude Statistical is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Strong track record of project management

– Attitude Statistical is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field

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

Organizational Resilience of Attitude Statistical

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

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Attitude Statistical 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.

Training and development

– Attitude Statistical has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) 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

– Attitude Statistical has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Attitude Statistical 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Attitude Statistical 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 Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.






Weaknesses Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) are -

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Attitude Statistical 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.

Lack of clear differentiation of Attitude Statistical products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Attitude Statistical needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Attitude Statistical is planning to shift buying processes online.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Attitude Statistical 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Attitude Statistical 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.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Attitude Statistical 's lucrative customers.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B), is just above the industry average. Attitude Statistical 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 bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, F. Stewart Debruicker, Jan-Erik Modig suggests that, Attitude Statistical 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Attitude Statistical 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 - Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) 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 Attitude Statistical, firm in the HBR case study Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Attitude Statistical 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. Attitude Statistical 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.




Opportunities Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) | 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 Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) are -

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Attitude Statistical has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Attitude Statistical to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) case study. Attitude Statistical can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Attitude Statistical 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Attitude Statistical can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

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. Attitude Statistical can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Attitude Statistical 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Attitude Statistical to increase its market reach. Attitude Statistical 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Attitude Statistical 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 Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Attitude Statistical to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Attitude Statistical 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 Attitude Statistical to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

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. Attitude Statistical 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. Attitude Statistical 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.

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

Buying journey improvements

– Attitude Statistical can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Attitude Statistical 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Attitude Statistical 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.




Threats Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) are -

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.

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 Attitude Statistical business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Barriers of entry lowering

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

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Attitude Statistical is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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 Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B), Attitude Statistical 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 .

Increasing wage structure of Attitude Statistical

– 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 Attitude Statistical.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Attitude Statistical 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.

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 Attitude Statistical.

Environmental challenges

– Attitude Statistical 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. Attitude Statistical 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 Attitude Statistical in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Attitude Statistical 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.

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. Attitude Statistical 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Attitude Statistical 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.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) 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 Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) 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 Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) 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 Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) 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 Ocean Spray Cranberries, Inc. (B) 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 Attitude Statistical needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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