Swot Analysis of "Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version" written by Adam Brandenburger, Maryellen Costello, Julia Kou includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Nutrasweet Sweetener facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Intellectual property and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Nutrasweet Sweetener, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Nutrasweet Sweetener 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 Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Nutrasweet Sweetener
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Nutrasweet Sweetener
Strengths Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Nutrasweet Sweetener in Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Nutrasweet Sweetener 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 Nutrasweet Sweetener is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Nutrasweet Sweetener 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Nutrasweet Sweetener 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Nutrasweet Sweetener is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Nutrasweet Sweetener has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Nutrasweet Sweetener 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Nutrasweet Sweetener 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 Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Nutrasweet Sweetener has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version 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.
Analytics focus
– Nutrasweet Sweetener 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 Adam Brandenburger, Maryellen Costello, Julia Kou 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Nutrasweet Sweetener in the sector have low bargaining power. Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Nutrasweet Sweetener to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Nutrasweet Sweetener 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 Nutrasweet Sweetener in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Nutrasweet Sweetener
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Nutrasweet Sweetener does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Nutrasweet Sweetener 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Adam Brandenburger, Maryellen Costello, Julia Kou suggests that, Nutrasweet Sweetener 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version 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 Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Nutrasweet Sweetener is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Nutrasweet Sweetener has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Nutrasweet Sweetener 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version, is just above the industry average. Nutrasweet Sweetener 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version HBR case study mentions - Nutrasweet Sweetener 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version, in the dynamic environment Nutrasweet Sweetener has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Nutrasweet Sweetener has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version 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 Nutrasweet Sweetener 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Nutrasweet Sweetener 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 - Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version | 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 Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Nutrasweet Sweetener can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Nutrasweet Sweetener 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 Nutrasweet Sweetener to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Nutrasweet Sweetener can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Nutrasweet Sweetener is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Nutrasweet Sweetener in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Nutrasweet Sweetener can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Nutrasweet Sweetener can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Nutrasweet Sweetener operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Nutrasweet Sweetener has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Nutrasweet Sweetener to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version case study. Nutrasweet Sweetener can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Nutrasweet Sweetener 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.
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 Nutrasweet Sweetener in the consumer business. Now Nutrasweet Sweetener can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Nutrasweet Sweetener 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Nutrasweet Sweetener 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Nutrasweet Sweetener 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 Strategy & Execution segment.
Threats Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Nutrasweet Sweetener can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Nutrasweet Sweetener business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Nutrasweet Sweetener in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Nutrasweet Sweetener 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.
Increasing wage structure of Nutrasweet Sweetener
– 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 Nutrasweet Sweetener.
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 Nutrasweet Sweetener.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Nutrasweet Sweetener 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.
Environmental challenges
– Nutrasweet Sweetener 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. Nutrasweet Sweetener can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Nutrasweet Sweetener 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 Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Nutrasweet Sweetener can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Nutrasweet Sweetener is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Nutrasweet Sweetener 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version 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 Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version 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 Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version 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 Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version 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 Bitter Competition: The Holland Sweetener Co. vs. NutraSweet (D), Spanish Version 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 Nutrasweet Sweetener needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.