Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland
This is the "David and Goliath" story of Cooley Distillery, the world's only independent, Irish-owned distiller of Irish whiskey. Against long odds, it survived twenty-five years of brutal competition in the oligopolistic Irish whiskey category of the global spirits industry. Along the way, it began to turn a modest profit and achieved a stellar reputation for quality and innovation in its product offerings. Yet it remained only a niche player. Cooley, a non-listed public company with 290 shareholders, had never paid a dividend, nor seemed in a position to do so for years to come. As 2011 drew to a close, founder and chairman John Teeling, whose family controlled 36% of the outstanding stock in the company, was evaluating a variety of strategic options, which included selling out to a larger multinational player, taking the company private in a management buy-out, partnering in a joint venture with another firm, or continuing to go it alone. Each option had particular challenges. Students must put themselves in Teeling's shoes and decide on the optimal strategy
Swot Analysis of "Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland" written by James Kennelly includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cooley Irish facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial markets, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization,
technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cooley Irish, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cooley Irish 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 Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cooley Irish
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 Cooley Irish
Strengths Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cooley Irish in Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cooley Irish to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cooley Irish to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Cooley Irish 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.
High brand equity
– Cooley Irish has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cooley Irish to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cooley Irish 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland 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
– Cooley Irish 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 Cooley Irish in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Cooley Irish 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 Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cooley Irish in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Cooley Irish
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cooley Irish does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cooley Irish is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– Cooley Irish 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 James Kennelly can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Cooley Irish has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Cooley Irish has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Weaknesses Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cooley Irish 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 - Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, James Kennelly suggests that, Cooley Irish is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Cooley Irish, firm in the HBR case study Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cooley Irish 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Cooley Irish 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Cooley Irish 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Cooley Irish 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. Cooley Irish 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland, is just above the industry average. Cooley Irish needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Cooley Irish is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Cooley Irish needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Cooley Irish to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland HBR case study mentions - Cooley Irish 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland 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 Cooley Irish 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland | 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 Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Cooley Irish 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.
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. Cooley Irish can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cooley Irish can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Cooley Irish can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cooley Irish has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cooley Irish to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland case study. Cooley Irish can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cooley Irish 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, Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland, 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, Cooley Irish can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cooley Irish operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cooley Irish 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cooley Irish 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.
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. Cooley Irish can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– Cooley Irish 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cooley Irish 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 Cooley Irish to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Cooley Irish is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland 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.
Threats Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cooley Irish 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 Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland .
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 Cooley Irish in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Cooley Irish 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cooley Irish 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
– Cooley Irish 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. Cooley Irish can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Cooley Irish with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Cooley Irish 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.
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. Cooley Irish 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.
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 Cooley Irish.
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. Cooley Irish can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Cooley Irish
– 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 Cooley Irish.
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 Cooley Irish business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland 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 Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland 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 Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland 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 Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland 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 Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland 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 Cooley Irish needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.