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 - – increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cooley Irish is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland 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
– 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Cooley Irish is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
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.
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.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cooley Irish digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cooley Irish 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.
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.
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.
Learning organization
- Cooley Irish 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 Cooley Irish is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
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.
Strong track record of project management
– Cooley Irish is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
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 -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cooley Irish is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
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.
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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland 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 Cooley Irish has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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.
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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland, 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Cooley Irish 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cooley Irish is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Cooley Irish has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
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.
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 -
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.
Loyalty marketing
– Cooley Irish 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Cooley Irish 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 Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cooley Irish to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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.
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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cooley Irish 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.
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.
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.
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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cooley Irish 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.
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.
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.
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 Cooley Irish in the consumer business. Now Cooley Irish can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 -
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.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Cooley Distillery: The Independent Spirit of Ireland, Cooley Irish 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 .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cooley Irish is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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. Cooley Irish needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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 .
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.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cooley Irish 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.
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.
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.
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.
