Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Crown Cork & Seal in 1989
Describes the structure and recent trends of the metal container industry, Crown's successful strategy for competing in the industry, and John Connelly's leadership over more than 20 years. In 1989, William Avery succeeded Connelly as CEO and is forced to consider new strategic options in the face of industry change.
Swot Analysis of "Crown Cork & Seal in 1989" written by Stephen P. Bradley, Sheila Cavanaugh includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that 1989 Connelly facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competition, Corporate governance, Leadership, Marketing, Organizational structure, Strategy execution and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Crown Cork & Seal in 1989
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the 1989 Connelly, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which 1989 Connelly 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 Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of 1989 Connelly
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 1989 Connelly
Strengths Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of 1989 Connelly in Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled 1989 Connelly to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped 1989 Connelly to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– 1989 Connelly has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– 1989 Connelly is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of 1989 Connelly in the sector have low bargaining power. Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps 1989 Connelly to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that 1989 Connelly 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– 1989 Connelly 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 Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 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.
Strong track record of project management
– 1989 Connelly is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- 1989 Connelly 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 1989 Connelly is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– 1989 Connelly has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled 1989 Connelly to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of 1989 Connelly in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For 1989 Connelly digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. 1989 Connelly 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.
Weaknesses Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, 1989 Connelly is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 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 1989 Connelly has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, 1989 Connelly 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.
Need for greater diversity
– 1989 Connelly 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at 1989 Connelly 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 1989 Connelly supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Crown Cork & Seal in 1989, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left 1989 Connelly vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Crown Cork & Seal in 1989, in the dynamic environment 1989 Connelly has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. 1989 Connelly 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 1989 Connelly, firm in the HBR case study Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Stephen P. Bradley, Sheila Cavanaugh suggests that, 1989 Connelly 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 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 1989 Connelly 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of 1989 Connelly products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, 1989 Connelly needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 | 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 Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for 1989 Connelly 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 1989 Connelly to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– 1989 Connelly 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 Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help 1989 Connelly to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– 1989 Connelly 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at 1989 Connelly can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Strategy & Execution segment.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, 1989 Connelly 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.
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. 1989 Connelly 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. 1989 Connelly 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– 1989 Connelly 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
– 1989 Connelly 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.
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 1989 Connelly in the consumer business. Now 1989 Connelly can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. 1989 Connelly can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– 1989 Connelly 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, 1989 Connelly can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that 1989 Connelly operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Buying journey improvements
– 1989 Connelly can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Threats Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 are -
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 1989 Connelly business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of 1989 Connelly
– 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 1989 Connelly.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– 1989 Connelly 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, 1989 Connelly 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 Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents 1989 Connelly with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– 1989 Connelly 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.
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. 1989 Connelly 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for 1989 Connelly 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– 1989 Connelly has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, 1989 Connelly 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.
Regulatory challenges
– 1989 Connelly 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 1989 Connelly is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 1989 Connelly in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– 1989 Connelly 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. 1989 Connelly can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 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 Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 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 Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 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 Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 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 Crown Cork & Seal in 1989 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 1989 Connelly needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
