PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji
Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji for product #PON374.Three-party, multi-issue international trade negotiation among three culturally different countries over which of two countries will export rice to the third; inculdes coalition and ongoing relationship issues. Fuji, the regional power in the "Pacrim" trading block, is a large island nation that imports significant quantities of rice, but that is constitutionally bound to import rice from only one country at a time. The smaller, historically unfriendly island nations of Indocarta and Hawani both wish to export their rice to Fuji. In a series of one-on-one and tripartite meetings, representatives of the three nations must determine not only whether and how Fuji will import rice, but also whether Indocarta and Hawani will cooperate or compete with each other in such an arrangement. The changing economy and the cultural differences among the three nations play a crucial role in the negotiations. This is a role play case.
Swot Analysis of "PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji" written by Ericka Gray includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Fuji Rice facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Government, International business, Negotiations and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Fuji Rice, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Fuji Rice 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 PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Fuji Rice
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 Fuji Rice
Strengths PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Fuji Rice in PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Fuji Rice in the sector have low bargaining power. PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Fuji Rice to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Fuji Rice is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji 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.
Learning organization
- Fuji Rice 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 Fuji Rice is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Fuji Rice is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Fuji Rice 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 PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Fuji Rice 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 Fuji Rice in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Fuji Rice is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Fuji Rice
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Fuji Rice does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Fuji Rice is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Fuji Rice 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 Ericka Gray 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
– Fuji Rice has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Fuji Rice 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.
Weaknesses PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji, it seems that the employees of Fuji Rice 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, Ericka Gray suggests that, Fuji Rice 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji, is just above the industry average. Fuji Rice 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 PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji 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 PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Fuji Rice is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Fuji Rice, firm in the HBR case study PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Lack of clear differentiation of Fuji Rice products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Fuji Rice needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Fuji Rice is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Fuji Rice needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Fuji Rice to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji 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 Fuji Rice has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji, 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 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 Fuji Rice supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Fuji Rice vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Fuji Rice is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji 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 PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji | 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 PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Fuji Rice 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Fuji Rice can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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 Fuji Rice has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Fuji Rice to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji case study. Fuji Rice can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Fuji Rice in the consumer business. Now Fuji Rice 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, Fuji Rice 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Fuji Rice 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 PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Fuji Rice to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Fuji Rice can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Fuji Rice operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Fuji Rice 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 Fuji Rice to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Fuji Rice 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. Fuji Rice 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Fuji Rice 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Fuji Rice 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 Fuji Rice 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Fuji Rice 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.
Threats PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji, Fuji Rice may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Fuji Rice 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 Fuji Rice business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Fuji Rice needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Fuji Rice 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.
Increasing wage structure of Fuji Rice
– 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 Fuji Rice.
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 Fuji Rice in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Fuji Rice 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 PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji .
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 Fuji Rice.
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. Fuji Rice 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Fuji Rice 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Fuji Rice has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Fuji Rice needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji 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 PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji 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 PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji 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 PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji 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 PACRIM DISPUTE - Confidential Instructions for the Representative of Fuji 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 Fuji Rice needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
