Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers
The director of Edible Agro Products Limited (EAPL) was reviewing the production figures for Gujarat Til-2, a variety of white sesame that EAPL had introduced to West Bengal in 2008. He had hoped to bring about a revolution in sesame production with this superior new variety and to create higher value for West Bengal farmers and for EAPL. However, his plan had yet to achieve the outcomes he had anticipated. The year 2010 was the third consecutive year in which EAPL had received less than 20 per cent of the expected quantity of harvested produce. Should he quit sesame production and focus only on the oil trading business? Should EAPL change its communications policy/strategy for promoting the value of white sesame to farmers who are not formally educated? How should he address the growing concerns of the farmers? How can he prevent malpractice among vendors and farmers, such as selling the harvested produce to other traders at a higher price? Should he change the pricing policy? Atanu Adhikari is affiliated with Indian Institute of Management Kozhikode.
Swot Analysis of "Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers" written by Atanu Adhikari, Arna Das includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Eapl Sesame facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Eapl Sesame, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Eapl Sesame 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 Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Eapl Sesame
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 Eapl Sesame
Strengths Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Eapl Sesame in Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Eapl Sesame 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 Eapl Sesame in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Eapl Sesame 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 Atanu Adhikari, Arna Das 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.
Learning organization
- Eapl Sesame 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 Eapl Sesame is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Eapl Sesame has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Eapl Sesame to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Eapl Sesame 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Eapl Sesame 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.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Eapl Sesame digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Eapl Sesame 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
– Eapl Sesame is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Eapl Sesame to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Eapl Sesame to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Eapl Sesame has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Eapl Sesame 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Eapl Sesame is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Eapl Sesame is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Eapl Sesame, firm in the HBR case study Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Eapl Sesame 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Eapl Sesame 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers, is just above the industry average. Eapl Sesame 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers, in the dynamic environment Eapl Sesame has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Eapl Sesame has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Eapl Sesame is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Eapl Sesame needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Eapl Sesame to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Eapl Sesame is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers, 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Eapl Sesame 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 - Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers, it seems that the employees of Eapl Sesame don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Atanu Adhikari, Arna Das suggests that, Eapl Sesame 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.
Opportunities Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers | 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 Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Eapl Sesame has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Eapl Sesame to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers case study. Eapl Sesame can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Eapl Sesame can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Eapl Sesame 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 Eapl Sesame to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Eapl Sesame can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Eapl Sesame can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Eapl Sesame can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Eapl Sesame operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Eapl Sesame 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Eapl Sesame 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 Eapl Sesame 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Eapl Sesame 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 Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Eapl Sesame to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Eapl Sesame 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, Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Eapl Sesame 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Eapl Sesame to increase its market reach. Eapl Sesame 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.
Threats Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers are -
Increasing wage structure of Eapl Sesame
– 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 Eapl Sesame.
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. Eapl Sesame 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.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Eapl Sesame 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.
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 Eapl Sesame.
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. Eapl Sesame 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
– Eapl Sesame 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers, Eapl Sesame 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Eapl Sesame 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.
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. Eapl Sesame needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Eapl Sesame business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Eapl Sesame 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 Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Eapl Sesame 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 Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers 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 Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers 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 Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers 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 Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers 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 Edible Agro Products Limited: Creating Higher Value for Farmers 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 Eapl Sesame needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.