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 - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, 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 -
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.
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.
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.
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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Peace Pioneer 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 Peace Pioneer in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Peace Pioneer 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 Ted London 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.
Organizational Resilience of Peace Pioneer
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Peace Pioneer does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
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.
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.
High brand equity
– Peace Pioneer has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Peace Pioneer to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP 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.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP HBR case study mentions - Peace Pioneer 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.
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.
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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP 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 Peace Pioneer 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Peace Pioneer is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Peace Pioneer needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Peace Pioneer to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Peace Pioneer 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 - Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Peace Pioneer has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Peace Pioneer even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Peace Pioneer 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, Global Seeds to Village Farmers: Hearing the Voices at the BoP, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Peace Pioneer can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Peace Pioneer operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Peace Pioneer 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. 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Peace Pioneer 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.
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.
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 -
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 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.
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.
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 Peace Pioneer in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Peace Pioneer 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Peace Pioneer with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Peace Pioneer 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.
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.
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 .
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. Peace Pioneer can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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.
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.