Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C)
This is a Darden case study.This three-part case series traces the fortunes of a California winery. In June 2001, Brooke Correll, a former executive at MTV, Ziff-Davis Media, and WineShopper.com, joined the privately owned Clos Du Val Wine Company, in Napa, California, as director of Marketing. Cofounded by an expert winemaker with ties to the famous ChA?teau Lafite Rothschild, Clos Du Val had seen its glory days, with high ratings accompanied by robust sales. During the 1990s, however, sales had begun to lag. As the winery's first marketing professional, Correll must chart a new course for the winery to revive the once-hot brand and reverse flagging sales. See also the A and B cases.
Swot Analysis of "Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C)" written by Marian Moore, Gosia Glinska includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Clos Correll facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Pricing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Clos Correll, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Clos Correll 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 Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Clos Correll
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 Clos Correll
Strengths Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Clos Correll in Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Clos Correll is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– Clos Correll is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) 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.
Training and development
– Clos Correll has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Clos Correll is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Clos Correll in the sector have low bargaining power. Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Clos Correll to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Clos Correll 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 Clos Correll 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
– Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Clos Correll to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Clos Correll to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Clos Correll 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 Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) 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 Clos Correll 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 Clos Correll 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.
Learning organization
- Clos Correll 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 Clos Correll is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C), 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Clos Correll 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, Clos Correll is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) 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 Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Clos Correll is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Clos Correll supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Clos Correll vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Clos Correll 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. Clos Correll 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Clos Correll 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 Clos Correll 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 - Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Marian Moore, Gosia Glinska suggests that, Clos Correll 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 Clos Correll products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Clos Correll needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C), is just above the industry average. Clos Correll 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.
Opportunities Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) | 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 Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Clos Correll 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.
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 Clos Correll in the consumer business. Now Clos Correll can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Clos Correll to increase its market reach. Clos Correll 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, Clos Correll is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Clos Correll 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, Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Clos Correll to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Clos Correll 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Clos Correll can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Clos Correll 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Clos Correll 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.
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. Clos Correll 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. Clos Correll 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Clos Correll 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Clos Correll can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Clos Correll operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Threats Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Clos Correll 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C), Clos Correll 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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Clos Correll has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Clos Correll 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
– Clos Correll 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.
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 Clos Correll business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Clos Correll 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.
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. Clos Correll can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Clos Correll 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.
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. Clos Correll 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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Clos Correll
– 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 Clos Correll.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Clos Correll with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) 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 Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) 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 Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) 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 Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) 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 Brooke Correll and Clos Du Val: Adventures in Napa Valley (C) 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 Clos Correll needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
