Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity
The US organic cereal business is fascinating: while most brands of organic breakfast cereals were founded by hippies who wanted to make a difference in the world in the 70s and 80s, many have been taken over by large "traditional' food companies. Attune Foods and its brands Uncle Sam and Erewohn is an exception: it is a small, independent player. Its ambition is to become a leading digestive health brand in the country: not exactly a popular conversation topic at most family dinner tables. Attune faced two challenges: - Develop a way to communicate about digestive health in a consumer-friendly way. - Communicate its differentiation with food giants like General Mills and Kellogg in a compelling way, with way less financial resources. Attune decided to base its strategy on authenticity: a less costly strategy that the company believed would allow it to clearly communicate its message and to differentiate it from the big boys. It applied the concept of authenticity in all aspects of its business (e.g., product definition, production and sourcing, communication). The case describes the company and its competition. The challenge facing Attune at the time of the case was to double the size of the company within four years.
Swot Analysis of "Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity" written by Glenn Carroll, Xavier Lederer includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Attune Authenticity facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competition, Competitive strategy, Entrepreneurship and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing,
increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Attune Authenticity, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Attune Authenticity 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 Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Attune Authenticity
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 Attune Authenticity
Strengths Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Attune Authenticity in Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Attune Authenticity
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Attune Authenticity does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Attune Authenticity digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Attune Authenticity 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Attune Authenticity is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Attune Authenticity 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.
Training and development
– Attune Authenticity has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity 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 brand equity
– Attune Authenticity has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Attune Authenticity to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Attune Authenticity in the sector have low bargaining power. Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Attune Authenticity to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Attune Authenticity 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Attune Authenticity 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 Attune Authenticity 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
– Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Attune Authenticity to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Attune Authenticity to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Attune Authenticity is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity, 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.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Attune Authenticity supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Attune Authenticity vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Attune Authenticity 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Attune Authenticity is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Attune Authenticity is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Attune Authenticity needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Attune Authenticity to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Glenn Carroll, Xavier Lederer suggests that, Attune Authenticity 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Attune Authenticity products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Attune Authenticity needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity, it seems that the employees of Attune Authenticity 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity 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 Attune Authenticity has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity, is just above the industry average. Attune Authenticity 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Attune Authenticity 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 - Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity | 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 Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Attune Authenticity is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Attune Authenticity 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Attune Authenticity has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Attune Authenticity to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity case study. Attune Authenticity can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Attune Authenticity 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 Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Attune Authenticity to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Attune Authenticity 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Attune Authenticity 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 Attune Authenticity to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Attune Authenticity can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Attune Authenticity operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Attune Authenticity can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Attune Authenticity to increase its market reach. Attune Authenticity 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Attune Authenticity 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Attune Authenticity 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.
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. Attune Authenticity 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. Attune Authenticity 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Attune Authenticity 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 Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Attune Authenticity 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, Attune Authenticity 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 Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity .
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 Attune Authenticity business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Attune Authenticity is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Attune Authenticity 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. Attune Authenticity can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Attune Authenticity 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Attune Authenticity 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Attune Authenticity has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Attune Authenticity needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
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. Attune Authenticity needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Attune Authenticity in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Attune Authenticity 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity, Attune Authenticity 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity 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 Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity 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 Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity 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 Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity 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 Attune Foods: Challenging the Goliaths with Authenticity 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 Attune Authenticity needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.