Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case)
When students have the English-language PDF of this Brief Case in a coursepack, they will also have the option to purchase an audio version.Topics include distribution channels, pricing, and new product marketing. Jen Moritz, the marketing manager for Soren Chemical Co. is struggling with the poor sales performance of Coracle, a new clarifier for residential swimming pools. The performance is puzzling because Coracle is chemically similar to another Soren product that has sold well for treatment of larger pools. Soren distributes the other product B2B through "chemical formulators" serving the commercial pools market -- but Soren uses wholesale distributors to sell Coracle. Given the slow start in establishing Coracle as a consumer brand, Moritz suspects that the go-to-market strategy may be flawed, but she is unsure where the problem lies; she examines channel strategy, distribution partners, the Coracle pricing scheme, the threat of competitors' offerings, and other potential problem sources.
Swot Analysis of "Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case)" written by V. Kasturi Rangan, Sunru Yong includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Coracle Soren facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Communication, Pricing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Coracle Soren, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Coracle Soren 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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Coracle Soren
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 Coracle Soren
Strengths Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Coracle Soren in Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Coracle Soren 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Coracle Soren to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Coracle Soren to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Coracle Soren in the sector have low bargaining power. Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Coracle Soren to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Coracle Soren is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Coracle Soren has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Coracle Soren 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.
Learning organization
- Coracle Soren 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 Coracle Soren is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Coracle Soren 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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Coracle Soren 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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Coracle Soren
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Coracle Soren does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Coracle Soren in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Coracle Soren 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.
Weaknesses Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) 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 Coracle Soren has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Coracle Soren supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Coracle Soren vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Coracle Soren is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Coracle Soren needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Coracle Soren to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) HBR case study mentions - Coracle Soren 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Coracle Soren is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Coracle Soren 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Coracle Soren 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Coracle Soren 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Coracle Soren 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 - Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case), is just above the industry average. Coracle Soren 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Coracle Soren has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Opportunities Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) | 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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) are -
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. Coracle Soren 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
– Coracle Soren 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Coracle Soren can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Coracle Soren 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, Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Coracle Soren to increase its market reach. Coracle Soren 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Coracle Soren 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Coracle Soren 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Coracle Soren 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 Coracle Soren to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Coracle Soren is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Coracle Soren 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Coracle Soren 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Coracle Soren 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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Coracle Soren 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. Coracle Soren 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. Coracle Soren 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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Coracle Soren 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.
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. Coracle Soren 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Coracle Soren 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
– Coracle Soren has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Coracle Soren 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.
Increasing wage structure of Coracle Soren
– 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 Coracle Soren.
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 Coracle Soren in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Coracle Soren 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Coracle Soren 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
– Coracle Soren 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.
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 Coracle Soren business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Coracle Soren 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. Coracle Soren can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Coracle Soren 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) 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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) 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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) 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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) 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 Soren Chemical: Why is the New Swimming Pool Product Sinking? (Brief Case) 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 Coracle Soren needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.