Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Cannabusiness in Washington D.C.
The cannabusiness case study focuses on entrepreneur Corey Barnette, owner of cultivation center District Growers and dispensary Metropolitan Wellness Center, two partially vertically integrated cannabis businesses. The case study examines the challenges facing a business owner in a new and highly regulated market, including finding access to capital, making compliance investments, and building political connections. The case also explores the history of cannabis in the United States, and how the "War on Drugs" gave rise to an uneven playing ground for minorities wishing to be a part of the legal cannabis industry - one of the fastest growing industries in the country. Barnette, an African-American, was able to overcome many of the barriers to entry facing minorities due to his MBA degree and background as an investment banker. As Barnette considers his growth strategy, he must evaluate how to leverage his influence as a visible figure in the DC community, whether vertical integration is advantageous and which segments of his businesses are value drivers, and how to more effectively compete within DC and beyond.
Swot Analysis of "Cannabusiness in Washington D.C." written by Rui J.P. de Figueiredo Jr., Jamaur Bronner, Mohsin Alvi, Deena Malaeb includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Barnette Cannabis facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Growth strategy, Innovation, Joint ventures, Leadership, Market research, Mergers & acquisitions and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cannabusiness in Washington D.C.
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Barnette Cannabis, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Barnette Cannabis 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 Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Barnette Cannabis
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 Barnette Cannabis
Strengths Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Barnette Cannabis in Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Barnette Cannabis 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 Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Barnette Cannabis 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Barnette Cannabis is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– Barnette Cannabis has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Barnette Cannabis to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Barnette Cannabis 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 Barnette Cannabis is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Barnette Cannabis is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Barnette Cannabis to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Barnette Cannabis to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Barnette Cannabis has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Barnette Cannabis in the sector have low bargaining power. Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Barnette Cannabis to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Barnette Cannabis 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.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Barnette Cannabis digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Barnette Cannabis 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Barnette Cannabis 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 Barnette Cannabis in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Barnette Cannabis products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Barnette Cannabis needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Barnette Cannabis 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. Barnette Cannabis 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Barnette Cannabis 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Cannabusiness in Washington D.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 Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Barnette Cannabis is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Barnette Cannabis is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Barnette Cannabis needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Barnette Cannabis to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. 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 Barnette Cannabis 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Barnette Cannabis 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Cannabusiness in Washington D.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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Cannabusiness in Washington D.C., is just above the industry average. Barnette Cannabis 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Barnette Cannabis 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Barnette Cannabis 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.
Opportunities Cannabusiness in Washington D.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 Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Barnette Cannabis 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Barnette Cannabis is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Cannabusiness in Washington D.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.
Loyalty marketing
– Barnette Cannabis 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Barnette Cannabis to increase its market reach. Barnette Cannabis 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.
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. Barnette Cannabis can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Barnette Cannabis 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Barnette Cannabis 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Barnette Cannabis 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 Barnette Cannabis to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Barnette Cannabis has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Barnette Cannabis to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. case study. Barnette Cannabis can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Barnette Cannabis 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Barnette Cannabis can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Barnette Cannabis 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Barnette Cannabis 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.
Threats Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Cannabusiness in Washington D.C. are -
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. Barnette Cannabis 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
– Barnette Cannabis 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. Barnette Cannabis can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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.
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. Barnette Cannabis needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Barnette Cannabis 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Barnette Cannabis with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Barnette Cannabis in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Technology 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.
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 Barnette Cannabis.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Cannabusiness in Washington D.C., Barnette Cannabis 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 .
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. Barnette Cannabis can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Barnette Cannabis 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Barnette Cannabis 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 Cannabusiness in Washington D.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 Cannabusiness in Washington D.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 Cannabusiness in Washington D.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 Cannabusiness in Washington D.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 Cannabusiness in Washington D.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 Barnette Cannabis needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.