Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma
The director of Lands and Economic Development in the Ministry of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) must make recommendations on how to handle challenges around a large farming company that leases land from First Nations communities in Western Canada. New Horizon Farms (NHF) has already leased over 180,000 acres from First Nations communities and plans to grow to one million acres. An immediate challenge is the leasing process whereby INAC must review and sign leases and receive lease payments, which are later turned over to the First Nations. The process slows the partnering process and the speed of cash flow to First Nations and many First Nations object to government control over their land on principle. However, without INAC involved, the leases are not legally enforceable, an essential factor for NHF and its public parent company. NHF provides leasing revenue but also training, employment, and shares in the company to the First Nations it partners with. On the surface it looks like a good opportunity, but it raises several questions for policy makers. Will NHF's control of one million acres of First Nations land be seen as a form of economic colonialism? How does this kind of initiative fit with INAC's and First Nations' mandates to improve economic and social conditions among First Nations communities? How will the provinces and neighbouring communities perceive and react to the situation? New Horizon Farms also needs to consider its long-term strategy. Will the operation meet its target of one million acres? What are the risks for the company? How should it approach the training issue now that funding has finished?
Swot Analysis of "Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma" written by David Sparling, Steven Koeckhoven includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Nations Inac facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Organizational culture, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices,
increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Nations Inac, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Nations Inac 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 Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Nations Inac
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 Nations Inac
Strengths Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Nations Inac in Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Nations Inac in the sector have low bargaining power. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Nations Inac to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Nations Inac has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Nations Inac to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Nations Inac 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.
Organizational Resilience of Nations Inac
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Nations Inac does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Nations Inac 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 Nations Inac in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Nations Inac 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 Nations Inac is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Nations Inac 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 David Sparling, Steven Koeckhoven 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Nations Inac 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 Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma 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 Nations Inac 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Nations Inac 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 Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Nations Inac has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Nations Inac has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Weaknesses Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Nations Inac 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma 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 Nations Inac 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma, it seems that the employees of Nations Inac 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma HBR case study mentions - Nations Inac 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, Nations Inac 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. Nations Inac 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, David Sparling, Steven Koeckhoven suggests that, Nations Inac 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
– Nations Inac 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Nations Inac products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Nations Inac needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Nations Inac is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Nations Inac needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Nations Inac to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma, is just above the industry average. Nations Inac 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Nations Inac 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 Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma | 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 Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Nations Inac can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Nations Inac operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Nations Inac 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 Nations Inac to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Nations Inac 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Nations Inac can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Nations Inac can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Nations Inac 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. Nations Inac can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Nations Inac 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Nations Inac to increase its market reach. Nations Inac 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.
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 Nations Inac 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.
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. Nations Inac can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Nations Inac has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Nations Inac to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Nations Inac can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Nations Inac 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.
Threats Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Nations Inac has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Nations Inac 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.
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 Nations Inac.
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. Nations Inac 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.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Environmental challenges
– Nations Inac 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. Nations Inac can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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. Nations Inac 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
– Nations Inac 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Nations Inac 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Nations Inac 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 Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma .
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 Nations Inac business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Nations Inac is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Nations Inac 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.
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. Nations Inac needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma 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 Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma 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 Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma 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 Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma 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 Indian and Northern Affairs Canada - The New Horizon Farms Dilemma 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 Nations Inac needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.