Swot Analysis of "Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council" written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Matthew Bird includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that B8 Meeusen facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the B8 Meeusen, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which B8 Meeusen 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 Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of B8 Meeusen
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 B8 Meeusen
Strengths Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of B8 Meeusen in Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For B8 Meeusen digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. B8 Meeusen 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 recruit top talent
– B8 Meeusen is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– B8 Meeusen has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled B8 Meeusen to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– B8 Meeusen 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 Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of B8 Meeusen in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– B8 Meeusen 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 Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Matthew Bird 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– B8 Meeusen has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. B8 Meeusen 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that B8 Meeusen 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.
Learning organization
- B8 Meeusen 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 B8 Meeusen is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of B8 Meeusen in the sector have low bargaining power. Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps B8 Meeusen to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– B8 Meeusen is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled B8 Meeusen to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped B8 Meeusen to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, B8 Meeusen 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. B8 Meeusen 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Matthew Bird suggests that, B8 Meeusen 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council 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 B8 Meeusen 's lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, B8 Meeusen 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, B8 Meeusen is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council, it seems that the employees of B8 Meeusen 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of B8 Meeusen products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, B8 Meeusen needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council HBR case study mentions - B8 Meeusen takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
B8 Meeusen 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council, 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.
Need for greater diversity
– B8 Meeusen 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.
Opportunities Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council | 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 Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council are -
Manufacturing automation
– B8 Meeusen 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.
Loyalty marketing
– B8 Meeusen 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.
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. B8 Meeusen can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– B8 Meeusen 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects B8 Meeusen can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help B8 Meeusen to increase its market reach. B8 Meeusen 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, B8 Meeusen is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at B8 Meeusen 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.
Buying journey improvements
– B8 Meeusen can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for B8 Meeusen 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 B8 Meeusen to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for B8 Meeusen 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– B8 Meeusen 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 Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help B8 Meeusen to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. B8 Meeusen 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. B8 Meeusen 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.
Threats Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, B8 Meeusen 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 Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that B8 Meeusen is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– B8 Meeusen has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, B8 Meeusen 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 dependence on third party suppliers
– B8 Meeusen 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.
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.
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. B8 Meeusen 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 B8 Meeusen in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 B8 Meeusen business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on B8 Meeusen 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 B8 Meeusen.
Environmental challenges
– B8 Meeusen 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. B8 Meeusen can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council, B8 Meeusen 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 .
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. B8 Meeusen can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council 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 Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council 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 Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council 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 Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council 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 Milwaukee (B8): Richard Meeusen, CEO, Badger Meter and Co-chair, Water Council 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 B8 Meeusen needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.