Swot Analysis of "American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C)" written by Karen H. Wruck, Sherry Pelkey Roper includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cyanamid Epilogue facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial analysis, Mergers & acquisitions and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cyanamid Epilogue, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cyanamid Epilogue 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 American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cyanamid Epilogue
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 Cyanamid Epilogue
Strengths American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cyanamid Epilogue in American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Cyanamid Epilogue
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cyanamid Epilogue does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Cyanamid Epilogue is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Cyanamid Epilogue 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 Karen H. Wruck, Sherry Pelkey Roper 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cyanamid Epilogue is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Cyanamid Epilogue is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Cyanamid Epilogue 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 Cyanamid Epilogue is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cyanamid Epilogue digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cyanamid Epilogue 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cyanamid Epilogue 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Cyanamid Epilogue has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Cyanamid Epilogue 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Cyanamid Epilogue 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 American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cyanamid Epilogue 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 American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Weaknesses American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cyanamid Epilogue 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cyanamid Epilogue 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 - American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Cyanamid Epilogue 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 to strategic competitive environment developments
– As American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) HBR case study mentions - Cyanamid Epilogue 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) 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 American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cyanamid Epilogue is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) 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 Cyanamid Epilogue has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Cyanamid Epilogue, firm in the HBR case study American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Cyanamid Epilogue 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C), 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cyanamid Epilogue is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Cyanamid Epilogue products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Cyanamid Epilogue needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) | 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 American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cyanamid Epilogue 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Cyanamid Epilogue can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Cyanamid Epilogue 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.
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 Cyanamid Epilogue in the consumer business. Now Cyanamid Epilogue can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Cyanamid Epilogue 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 American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cyanamid Epilogue to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Cyanamid Epilogue 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. Cyanamid Epilogue 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Cyanamid Epilogue 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.
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 Cyanamid Epilogue 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.
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. Cyanamid Epilogue can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Cyanamid Epilogue is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) 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 Cyanamid Epilogue can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cyanamid Epilogue 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 Cyanamid Epilogue to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cyanamid Epilogue to increase its market reach. Cyanamid Epilogue will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Threats American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) are -
Regulatory challenges
– Cyanamid Epilogue 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.
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 Cyanamid Epilogue business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cyanamid Epilogue 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cyanamid Epilogue 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 American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C), Cyanamid Epilogue 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 .
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.
Environmental challenges
– Cyanamid Epilogue 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. Cyanamid Epilogue 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 Cyanamid Epilogue with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Cyanamid Epilogue 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 Cyanamid Epilogue
– 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 Cyanamid Epilogue.
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 Cyanamid Epilogue.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Cyanamid Epilogue 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) 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 American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) 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 American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) 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 American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) 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 American Cyanamid: Epilogue (C) 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 Cyanamid Epilogue needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.