For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada
In 2010, An entrepreneur is trying to enter the Canadian market for fuel additives by marketing a product - Force For Earth (FFE) Fuel and Engine Conditioner. FFE is made in the United States and the entrepreneur has the Canadian license for the product. Unlike many competitors in North America, FFE's products have been proven to deliver the benefits stated on the package, but the entrepreneur's dilemma is that every other product in the market claims to offer "proven" results as well, even though most of these claims are unsubtantiated, false or exaggerated. The entrepreneur's challenge is to understand, from the marketing perspective, the key selling features of the FFE product that would resonate with his target groups.
Swot Analysis of "For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada" written by Matthew Thomson, Ken Mark includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ffe Conditioner facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ffe Conditioner, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ffe Conditioner 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 For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ffe Conditioner
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 Ffe Conditioner
Strengths For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ffe Conditioner in For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ffe Conditioner 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 For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ffe Conditioner 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Ffe Conditioner 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
– For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ffe Conditioner to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ffe Conditioner to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ffe Conditioner 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 For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ffe Conditioner is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Ffe Conditioner
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ffe Conditioner does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Ffe Conditioner 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 Ffe Conditioner is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Ffe Conditioner has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ffe Conditioner to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ffe Conditioner in the sector have low bargaining power. For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ffe Conditioner to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ffe Conditioner has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ffe Conditioner 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ffe Conditioner 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.
Weaknesses For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Ffe Conditioner, firm in the HBR case study For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ffe Conditioner 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 For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada, 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 to strategic competitive environment developments
– As For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada HBR case study mentions - Ffe Conditioner 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada, is just above the industry average. Ffe Conditioner 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Matthew Thomson, Ken Mark suggests that, Ffe Conditioner 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada, in the dynamic environment Ffe Conditioner has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ffe Conditioner has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Ffe Conditioner 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, Ffe Conditioner 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ffe Conditioner 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. Ffe Conditioner 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Ffe Conditioner 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.
Opportunities For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada | 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 For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ffe Conditioner 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 Ffe Conditioner to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ffe Conditioner 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.
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 Ffe Conditioner 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ffe Conditioner 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ffe Conditioner 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 For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ffe Conditioner to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Ffe Conditioner can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ffe Conditioner 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ffe Conditioner 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ffe Conditioner 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ffe Conditioner 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ffe Conditioner to increase its market reach. Ffe Conditioner 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Ffe Conditioner 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.
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. Ffe Conditioner 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. Ffe Conditioner 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.
Threats For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada 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. Ffe Conditioner 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
– Ffe Conditioner 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. Ffe Conditioner 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 For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada, Ffe Conditioner 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 .
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ffe Conditioner 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.
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 Ffe Conditioner 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 Ffe Conditioner with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ffe Conditioner is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ffe Conditioner has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ffe Conditioner 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.
Increasing wage structure of Ffe Conditioner
– 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 Ffe Conditioner.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ffe Conditioner 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 For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada .
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. Ffe Conditioner needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada 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 For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada 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 For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada 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 For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada 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 For Earth Inc.: Launching the Force Engine and Fuel Conditioner in Canada 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 Ffe Conditioner needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
