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Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A)


Does the Braun plaque removal (electronic toothbrush) product under development have a chance against the dominant American player, Interplak? Under an innovative female project manager, the Braun team has come to a decision point that is made urgent by the recent purchase of Interplak by Bausch & Lomb, a major company with a threatening presence in Europe. Looking at the product development process, the "product semantics" of the current design (does it communicate superior value to the consumer?), the technical problems yet to be solved, and the pressure to follow the Interplak lead, students have to develop a product strategy that fits the competitive situation and the competency and character of the company.

Authors :: Karen J. Freeze

Topics :: Strategy & Execution

Tags :: Design, Product development, Project management, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A)" written by Karen J. Freeze includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Interplak Braun facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Design, Product development, Project management and Strategy & Execution.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A)


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Interplak Braun, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Interplak Braun 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 Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Interplak Braun
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 Interplak Braun




Strengths Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Interplak Braun in Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -

Diverse revenue streams

– Interplak Braun is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) 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

– Interplak Braun is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Interplak Braun 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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) 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.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Interplak Braun 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.

High brand equity

– Interplak Braun has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Interplak Braun to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Organizational Resilience of Interplak Braun

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Interplak Braun does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Interplak Braun in the sector have low bargaining power. Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Interplak Braun to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Interplak Braun 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 Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Interplak Braun is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Analytics focus

– Interplak Braun 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 J. Freeze 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

– Interplak Braun is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.






Weaknesses Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) are -

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Interplak Braun, firm in the HBR case study Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A), 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 decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Interplak Braun 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. Interplak Braun 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.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) 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 Interplak Braun has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) 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 Interplak Braun 's lucrative customers.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Interplak Braun 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.

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 Interplak Braun supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Interplak Braun vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Interplak Braun is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Interplak Braun needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Interplak Braun to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Lack of clear differentiation of Interplak Braun products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Interplak Braun needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Interplak Braun is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A), is just above the industry average. Interplak Braun needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.




Opportunities Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) | 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 Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) are -

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Interplak Braun 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Interplak Braun 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, Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

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. Interplak Braun can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Buying journey improvements

– Interplak Braun can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Interplak Braun can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Interplak Braun operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.

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 Interplak Braun 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. Interplak Braun can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Developing new processes and practices

– Interplak Braun 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Interplak Braun 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Interplak Braun can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Manufacturing automation

– Interplak Braun 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 Interplak Braun in the consumer business. Now Interplak Braun can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Interplak Braun 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 Interplak Braun to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.




Threats Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) are -

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 Interplak Braun.

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 Interplak Braun in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Interplak Braun 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.

Increasing wage structure of Interplak Braun

– 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 Interplak Braun.

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.

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.

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. Interplak Braun can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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. Interplak Braun 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.

Environmental challenges

– Interplak Braun 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. Interplak Braun can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A), Interplak Braun 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 .

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Interplak Braun 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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Interplak Braun 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 Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) .

High level of anxiety and lack of motivation

– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Interplak Braun needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) 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 Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) 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 Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) 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 Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) 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 Braun AG: Product Design and Development for a New Oral Care Category (A) 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 Interplak Braun needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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