Case Study Description of Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy
This case concerns Yildiz Holding's acquisition of Godiva Chocolatier from its previous owner, Campbell Soup, and its strategy in preserving Godiva's "made in Belgium" brand position. Provenance Paradox, a problem faced by companies in emerging countries trying to establish their brands in developed markets, had not become a problem for Yildiz Holding. After patiently waiting five years and seeing the company not performing as desired, Murat A?lker, the chairman of Yildiz, decides to change the management structure and encourage rethinking brand positioning, channels, and communications in the U.S. market. How was the Godiva brand affected by the execution problems of previous management? Why did Godiva succeed in international markets while it declined in the U.S.? What were the implications of the change in marketing strategy to Godiva's brand image?
Swot Analysis of "Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy" written by Rohit Deshpande, Esel Cekin includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Godiva Yildiz facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management, Emerging markets, Innovation, Mergers & acquisitions and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy casestudy better are - – technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing transportation and logistics costs, wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, geopolitical disruptions,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Godiva Yildiz, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Godiva Yildiz 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 Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Godiva Yildiz
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 Godiva Yildiz
Strengths Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Godiva Yildiz in Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Godiva Yildiz to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Godiva Yildiz to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Godiva Yildiz is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Godiva Yildiz digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Godiva Yildiz 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.
Analytics focus
– Godiva Yildiz 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 Rohit Deshpande, Esel Cekin 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Godiva Yildiz 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 Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Godiva Yildiz in the sector have low bargaining power. Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Godiva Yildiz to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Godiva Yildiz is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Godiva Yildiz
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Godiva Yildiz does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Godiva Yildiz is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Godiva Yildiz is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Godiva Yildiz 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 Godiva Yildiz is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy 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 Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy HBR case study mentions - Godiva Yildiz 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Godiva Yildiz 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 - Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy, it seems that the employees of Godiva Yildiz 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 star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy 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 Godiva Yildiz has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Godiva Yildiz 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Godiva Yildiz has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy, 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Godiva Yildiz has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
High 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 Godiva Yildiz supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Godiva Yildiz vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Godiva Yildiz 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy, in the dynamic environment Godiva Yildiz has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Godiva Yildiz has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy | 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 Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy are -
Loyalty marketing
– Godiva Yildiz has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Godiva Yildiz can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy 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. Godiva Yildiz 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. Godiva Yildiz 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.
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. Godiva Yildiz can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Godiva Yildiz 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, Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Godiva Yildiz is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Godiva Yildiz 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
– Godiva Yildiz 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 Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Godiva Yildiz to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Godiva Yildiz in the consumer business. Now Godiva Yildiz can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Godiva Yildiz 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Godiva Yildiz 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Godiva Yildiz can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Godiva Yildiz operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Godiva Yildiz can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Threats Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy are -
Regulatory challenges
– Godiva Yildiz 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Godiva Yildiz is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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. Godiva Yildiz needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Godiva Yildiz 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.
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 Godiva Yildiz in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Godiva Yildiz business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Godiva Yildiz has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Godiva Yildiz 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 Godiva Yildiz with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Environmental challenges
– Godiva Yildiz 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. Godiva Yildiz can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Godiva Yildiz 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.
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. Godiva Yildiz can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy, Godiva Yildiz 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy 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 Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy 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 Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy 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 Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy 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 Rebranding Godiva: The Yildiz Strategy 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 Godiva Yildiz needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
