Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem
Monique Oxender, chief sustainability officer for Keurig Green Mountain Coffee, is carefully considering the criticism the company has received regarding its plastic K-Cups that deliver a single serving of coffee to consumers through the Keurig brewing system. Billions of the difficult-to-recycle K-Cup pods are ending up in landfills. Keurig Green Mountain has pledged to produce 100% recyclable K-Cups by 2020, but how will it achieve this goal? Oxender must address the environmental impact and public scrutiny of the company's signature product. However, she must find a way to overcome the inconsistent and sometimes inadequate recycling infrastructure in Keurig's markets. Students join Oxender in finding the best, workable solutions.
Swot Analysis of "Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem" written by Andrew Hoffman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Keurig Oxender facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Keurig Oxender, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Keurig Oxender 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 Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Keurig Oxender
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 Keurig Oxender
Strengths Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Keurig Oxender in Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Keurig Oxender 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 Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Keurig Oxender has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Keurig Oxender to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Keurig Oxender 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 Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Keurig Oxender is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Keurig Oxender 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 Keurig Oxender in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Keurig Oxender is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Keurig Oxender to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Keurig Oxender to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Keurig Oxender digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Keurig Oxender 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Keurig Oxender in the sector have low bargaining power. Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Keurig Oxender to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Keurig Oxender 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 Keurig Oxender is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Keurig Oxender
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Keurig Oxender does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem 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 Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Keurig Oxender 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem HBR case study mentions - Keurig Oxender 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 Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem 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 Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Keurig Oxender is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Keurig Oxender 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. Keurig Oxender 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Keurig Oxender is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Keurig Oxender needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Keurig Oxender to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem, it seems that the employees of Keurig Oxender don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem, in the dynamic environment Keurig Oxender has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Keurig Oxender has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Andrew Hoffman suggests that, Keurig Oxender 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Keurig Oxender 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem 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 Keurig Oxender 's lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Keurig Oxender, firm in the HBR case study Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem | 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 Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem are -
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. Keurig Oxender can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Keurig Oxender has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Keurig Oxender to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem case study. Keurig Oxender can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Keurig Oxender 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 Keurig Oxender to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Keurig Oxender 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. Keurig Oxender 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, Keurig Oxender is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem 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 Keurig Oxender can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Keurig Oxender 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Keurig Oxender can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem 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
– Keurig Oxender 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Keurig Oxender 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, Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Keurig Oxender 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Keurig Oxender 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.
Threats Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem are -
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. Keurig Oxender can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Keurig Oxender 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. Keurig Oxender 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 Keurig Oxender with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Keurig Oxender has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Keurig Oxender 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Keurig Oxender is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Keurig Oxender.
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 Keurig Oxender business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem, Keurig Oxender 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Keurig Oxender 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Keurig Oxender 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Keurig Oxender 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.
Increasing wage structure of Keurig Oxender
– 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 Keurig Oxender.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Keurig Oxender 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 Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem 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 Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem 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 Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem 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 Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem 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 Recycling at Keurig Green Mountain: A Brewing Problem 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 Keurig Oxender needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
