Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP
Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc., the hybrid corn company division of Dupont, has engaged with PEACE (People's Action for Creative Education) to serve the base of the pyramid markets in India. The partnership between Pioneer and PEACE allows Pioneer to distribute its quality seeds to village farmers through PEACE. This is an example of a for-profit/non-profit partnership serving BoP markets. The case provides an inside look at the impact of the Pioneer/PEACE partnership through interviews with Indian farmers using Pioneer's engineered seeds. It also sheds light on the advantages and limitations of the venture's efforts to reduce production and transactional constraints of the Indian farmers.
Swot Analysis of "Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP" written by Ted London includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Peace Pioneer facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Emerging markets and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Peace Pioneer, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Peace Pioneer 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 Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Peace Pioneer
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 Peace Pioneer
Strengths Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Peace Pioneer in Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Peace Pioneer 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 Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP - 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
– Peace Pioneer is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Peace Pioneer is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Peace Pioneer digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Peace Pioneer 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Peace Pioneer 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 Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Peace Pioneer 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Peace Pioneer has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Peace Pioneer 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.
Training and development
– Peace Pioneer has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Peace Pioneer is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Peace Pioneer 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Peace Pioneer is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Peace Pioneer in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP, in the dynamic environment Peace Pioneer has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Peace Pioneer has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Peace Pioneer is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Peace Pioneer 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP 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 Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Peace Pioneer is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP, it seems that the employees of Peace Pioneer 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Peace Pioneer needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP 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 Peace Pioneer has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Peace Pioneer products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Peace Pioneer needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Peace Pioneer supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Peace Pioneer vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Peace Pioneer 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP, 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.
Opportunities Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP | 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 Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP are -
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. Peace Pioneer can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Peace Pioneer 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 Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Peace Pioneer to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Peace Pioneer 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.
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. Peace Pioneer can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Peace Pioneer can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP 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.
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. Peace Pioneer 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. Peace Pioneer 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Peace Pioneer has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Peace Pioneer to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP case study. Peace Pioneer 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 Peace Pioneer can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Peace Pioneer 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
– Peace Pioneer 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Peace Pioneer is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Peace Pioneer 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 Peace Pioneer to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Peace Pioneer 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.
Threats Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Peace Pioneer is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Peace Pioneer.
Increasing wage structure of Peace Pioneer
– 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 Peace Pioneer.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Peace Pioneer 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 Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Peace Pioneer in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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.
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. Peace Pioneer 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Peace Pioneer has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Peace Pioneer 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Peace Pioneer 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.
Environmental challenges
– Peace Pioneer 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. Peace Pioneer can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Peace Pioneer 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.
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.
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 Peace Pioneer 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. Peace Pioneer needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP 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 Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP 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 Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP 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 Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP 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 Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP 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 Peace Pioneer needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.