Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods
Six Sigma has become a popular management philosophy adopted by several large companies, including Maple Leaf Foods, as a means of reducing waste systematically. The plant manager at the Rivermede plant is preparing for a meeting with the senior manager to discuss the new initiative Six Sigma @ the Edge. Based on the success of Six Sigma at this plant, it was chosen as a pilot for this new initiative. Students will develop a deeper understanding of Six Sigma and the challenges associated with embedding it in the organization.
Swot Analysis of "Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods" written by P. Fraser Johnson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sigma Leaf facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Human resource management, Managing yourself, Product development and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization,
wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sigma Leaf, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sigma Leaf 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 Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sigma Leaf
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 Sigma Leaf
Strengths Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sigma Leaf in Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Sigma Leaf is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Sigma Leaf 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Sigma Leaf is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Sigma Leaf has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Sigma Leaf to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Sigma Leaf 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 Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sigma Leaf to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sigma Leaf to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Sigma Leaf 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 P. Fraser Johnson 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Sigma Leaf 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 Sigma Leaf in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sigma Leaf in the sector have low bargaining power. Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sigma Leaf to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Sigma Leaf 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.
Learning organization
- Sigma Leaf 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 Sigma Leaf is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Sigma Leaf 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods HBR case study mentions - Sigma Leaf 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Sigma Leaf 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods, in the dynamic environment Sigma Leaf has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Sigma Leaf has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Sigma Leaf, firm in the HBR case study Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sigma Leaf 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. Sigma Leaf 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods 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 Sigma Leaf has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Sigma Leaf has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods 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 Sigma Leaf 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods, 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Sigma Leaf 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 - Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods | 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 Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Sigma Leaf is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Sigma Leaf has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Sigma Leaf to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods case study. Sigma Leaf can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sigma Leaf can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sigma Leaf operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sigma Leaf 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Sigma Leaf 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.
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. Sigma Leaf can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Sigma Leaf 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sigma Leaf 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 Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sigma Leaf to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Sigma Leaf can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sigma Leaf 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sigma Leaf can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sigma Leaf 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Sigma Leaf 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 Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Sigma Leaf 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 Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sigma Leaf is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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
– Sigma Leaf 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.
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 Sigma Leaf business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Sigma Leaf 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. Sigma Leaf can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sigma Leaf 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Sigma Leaf 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.
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 Sigma Leaf.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sigma Leaf has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sigma Leaf 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.
Environmental challenges
– Sigma Leaf 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. Sigma Leaf can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods 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 Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods 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 Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods 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 Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods 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 Six Sigma Implementation at Maple Leaf Foods 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 Sigma Leaf needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
