Swot Analysis of "Agriculture in Mexico" written by David E. Bell, Regina Garcia Cuellar, Cintra Scott includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Agriculture Mexico facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Agriculture in Mexico case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Organizational culture and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Agriculture in Mexico casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, wage bills are increasing,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Agriculture in Mexico
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Agriculture in Mexico case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Agriculture Mexico, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Agriculture Mexico 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 Agriculture in Mexico can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Agriculture in Mexico case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Agriculture Mexico
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 Agriculture Mexico
Strengths Agriculture in Mexico | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Agriculture Mexico in Agriculture in Mexico Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Agriculture Mexico in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Agriculture Mexico 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 Agriculture Mexico is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Agriculture in Mexico Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Agriculture Mexico 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 Agriculture in Mexico HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Agriculture Mexico has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Agriculture Mexico 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
– Agriculture Mexico is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Agriculture in Mexico Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Agriculture Mexico 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 Agriculture Mexico in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Agriculture Mexico
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Agriculture Mexico does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Agriculture in Mexico firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Agriculture Mexico to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Agriculture Mexico to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Agriculture Mexico 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 Agriculture in Mexico - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Agriculture Mexico 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
– Agriculture Mexico has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Agriculture in Mexico 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 Agriculture Mexico digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Agriculture Mexico 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.
Weaknesses Agriculture in Mexico | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Agriculture in Mexico are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Agriculture in Mexico, in the dynamic environment Agriculture Mexico has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Agriculture Mexico has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Agriculture Mexico 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Agriculture Mexico 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Agriculture in Mexico has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Agriculture Mexico 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Agriculture Mexico 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.
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 Agriculture Mexico supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Agriculture in Mexico, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Agriculture Mexico vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Agriculture Mexico is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Agriculture Mexico needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Agriculture Mexico to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Agriculture Mexico products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Agriculture Mexico needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Agriculture Mexico 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Agriculture in Mexico HBR case study mentions - Agriculture Mexico 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, Agriculture Mexico is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Agriculture in Mexico can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Agriculture in Mexico | 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 Agriculture in Mexico are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Agriculture Mexico 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Agriculture Mexico has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Agriculture Mexico to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Agriculture in Mexico case study. Agriculture Mexico can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Agriculture Mexico 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 Agriculture Mexico to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Agriculture Mexico 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. Agriculture Mexico can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Agriculture Mexico to increase its market reach. Agriculture Mexico 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Agriculture Mexico 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, Agriculture in Mexico, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Agriculture Mexico can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Agriculture Mexico can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Agriculture Mexico operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
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. Agriculture Mexico 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. Agriculture Mexico 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Agriculture Mexico 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Agriculture Mexico can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Agriculture in Mexico 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Agriculture Mexico 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.
Threats Agriculture in Mexico External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Agriculture in Mexico are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Agriculture Mexico 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 Agriculture in Mexico .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Agriculture Mexico 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
– Agriculture Mexico has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Agriculture Mexico 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.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Agriculture in Mexico, Agriculture Mexico 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 Agriculture Mexico business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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. Agriculture Mexico 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Agriculture Mexico with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Agriculture Mexico
– 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 Agriculture Mexico.
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. Agriculture Mexico 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
– Agriculture Mexico 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Agriculture Mexico 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Agriculture Mexico 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Agriculture in Mexico 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 Agriculture in Mexico 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 Agriculture in Mexico 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 Agriculture in Mexico 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 Agriculture in Mexico 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 Agriculture Mexico needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.