International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program
Chronicles International Paper from 1957 to 2001 in its transition from a company with a unique focus on forest products to one that embraced land management practices and fostered recreational and wildlife uses of forestlands. In 2001, International Paper (IP) was a billion-dollar global paper and forest products company with stewardship over 12 million acres of private forestlands in the United States. IP's foray into land management was spearheaded in 1983 by forester and biologist Tom Bourland. Describes Bourland's first business plan for leasing recreational opportunities (hunting and camping) on IP land, IP's forestry management practices, revenues from recreation and, in 2001, new challenges facing the company: providing support for environmental management programs in the face of declining demand for hunting areas and increased demand for forest products that meet various environmental criteria.
Swot Analysis of "International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program" written by Terry Anderson, J. Bishop Grewell includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Forestlands Ip's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Sustainability and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Forestlands Ip's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Forestlands Ip's 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 International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Forestlands Ip's
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 Forestlands Ip's
Strengths International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Forestlands Ip's in International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Forestlands Ip's in the sector have low bargaining power. International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Forestlands Ip's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Forestlands Ip's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Forestlands Ip's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Forestlands Ip's 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 International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Forestlands Ip's 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 Terry Anderson, J. Bishop Grewell 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Forestlands Ip's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Forestlands Ip's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Forestlands Ip's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Forestlands Ip's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Forestlands Ip's are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Training and development
– Forestlands Ip's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Forestlands Ip's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program 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
– Forestlands Ip's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Forestlands Ip's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program HBR case study mentions - Forestlands Ip's 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Forestlands Ip's 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. Forestlands Ip's 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program, it seems that the employees of Forestlands Ip's 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Forestlands Ip's 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Forestlands Ip's 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 star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program 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 Forestlands Ip's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Forestlands Ip's 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.
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 Forestlands Ip's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Forestlands Ip's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Forestlands Ip's 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Forestlands Ip's 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 Forestlands Ip's 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 - International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program | 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 International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Forestlands Ip's 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
– Forestlands Ip's 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Forestlands Ip's 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Forestlands Ip's to increase its market reach. Forestlands Ip's 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Forestlands Ip's 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Forestlands Ip's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Forestlands Ip's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Forestlands Ip's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Forestlands Ip's 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Forestlands Ip's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Forestlands Ip's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Forestlands Ip's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program case study. Forestlands Ip's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Forestlands Ip's 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. Forestlands Ip's 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Forestlands Ip's 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.
Threats International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Forestlands Ip's 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program, Forestlands Ip's 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 .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Forestlands Ip's 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.
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. Forestlands Ip's 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 Forestlands Ip's
– 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 Forestlands Ip's.
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 Forestlands Ip's in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Forestlands Ip's 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
– Forestlands Ip's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Forestlands Ip's 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.
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. Forestlands Ip's will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Forestlands Ip's.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Forestlands Ip's 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Forestlands Ip's is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program 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 International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program 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 International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program 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 International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program 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 International Paper's Wildlife and Recreation Program 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 Forestlands Ip's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.