Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green

This empirical research explores how 16 global corporations from four different industry sectors--retail, technology equipment, food/beverage/tobacco, and consumer goods--use social media platforms and corporate social responsibility (CSR) reports to communicate about sustainability. Facebook, Twitter, CEO letters from annual reports and CSR/sustainability reports, and other company documentation are examined to compare the content and scope of these firms' corporate communication. The sample is divided into two subsamples (Green and Not Green firms) using Newsweek's Greenest Company 2012 rankings, and compared for differential use of social media and corporate reports. Results show that communication varies across firm and industry regarding types of sustainability initiatives reported, metrics employed, and communication media utilized, and that Green firms are more active than Not Green firms both in addressing sustainability and in general social media activity. Implications are discussed herein and recommendations are presented for companies seeking to better understand the effective use of social media and sustainability communication.

Authors :: Anne H. Reilly, Katherine A. Hynan

Topics :: Sales & Marketing

Tags :: International business, Social platforms, Social responsibility, Sustainability, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green" written by Anne H. Reilly, Katherine A. Hynan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sustainability Green facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Social platforms, Social responsibility, Sustainability and Sales & Marketing.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sustainability Green, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sustainability Green 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sustainability Green
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 Sustainability Green

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Strengths Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Sustainability Green in Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green Harvard Business Review case study are -

Strong track record of project management

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

Training and development

– Sustainability Green has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green 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.

Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sustainability Green digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sustainability Green 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.

Analytics focus

– Sustainability Green 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 Anne H. Reilly, Katherine A. Hynan 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

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

Diverse revenue streams

– Sustainability Green is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green 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.

Organizational Resilience of Sustainability Green

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

Learning organization

- Sustainability Green 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 Sustainability Green is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Sustainability Green in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Sustainability Green in the sector have low bargaining power. Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sustainability Green to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry

– Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sustainability Green to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sustainability Green to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

High brand equity

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

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Weaknesses Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green are -

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green 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 Sustainability Green has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Sustainability Green, firm in the HBR case study Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green HBR case study mentions - Sustainability Green 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 bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Anne H. Reilly, Katherine A. Hynan suggests that, Sustainability Green 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 cash cycle compare to competitors

Sustainability Green 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Sustainability Green 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 - Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Sustainability Green is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Sustainability Green needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Sustainability Green to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Need for greater diversity

– Sustainability Green 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green, is just above the industry average. Sustainability Green 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green 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 Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Sustainability Green is planning to shift buying processes online.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sustainability Green 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. Sustainability Green 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.

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Opportunities Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green | 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 Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green are -

Reforming the budgeting process

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

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. Sustainability Green 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. Sustainability Green 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sustainability Green can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sustainability Green operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Sustainability Green has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Sustainability Green to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green case study. Sustainability Green can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Manufacturing automation

– Sustainability Green 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

– Sustainability Green 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.

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 Sustainability Green 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Sustainability Green 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, Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Developing new processes and practices

– Sustainability Green 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.

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

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sustainability Green 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.

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. Sustainability Green can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Buying journey improvements

– Sustainability Green can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green 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.

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Threats Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green are -

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. Sustainability Green can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Sustainability Green 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 Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green .

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. Sustainability Green needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Sustainability Green 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

– Sustainability Green 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.

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 Sustainability Green.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Sustainability Green is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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. Sustainability Green 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.

Environmental challenges

– Sustainability Green 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. Sustainability Green 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 Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green, Sustainability Green 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 .

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 Sustainability Green business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Sustainability Green has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sustainability Green 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.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green 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 Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green 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 Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green 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 Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green 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 Corporate communication, sustainability, and social media: It's not easy (really) being green 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 Sustainability Green needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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