Swot Analysis of "Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B)" written by Nicole R.D. Haggerty, Pamela Odhiambo, Tom Collins, Robert Freele includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that W13130 Pastures facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the W13130 Pastures, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which W13130 Pastures 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 Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of W13130 Pastures
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 W13130 Pastures
Strengths Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of W13130 Pastures in Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled W13130 Pastures to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped W13130 Pastures to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the W13130 Pastures 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.
Learning organization
- W13130 Pastures 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 W13130 Pastures is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– W13130 Pastures is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For W13130 Pastures digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. W13130 Pastures 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– W13130 Pastures is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) 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.
Strong track record of project management
– W13130 Pastures is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– W13130 Pastures has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled W13130 Pastures to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– W13130 Pastures has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. W13130 Pastures 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of W13130 Pastures in the sector have low bargaining power. Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps W13130 Pastures to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– W13130 Pastures has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– W13130 Pastures 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 W13130 Pastures in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of W13130 Pastures, firm in the HBR case study Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at W13130 Pastures 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 Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B), 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 Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) HBR case study mentions - W13130 Pastures 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 Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B), is just above the industry average. W13130 Pastures 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, W13130 Pastures 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B), it seems that the employees of W13130 Pastures 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though W13130 Pastures has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of W13130 Pastures is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. W13130 Pastures needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help W13130 Pastures to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of W13130 Pastures products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, W13130 Pastures needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 W13130 Pastures supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left W13130 Pastures vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) | 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 Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) are -
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. W13130 Pastures can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– W13130 Pastures 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– W13130 Pastures 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of W13130 Pastures has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help W13130 Pastures to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) case study. W13130 Pastures can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– W13130 Pastures 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 Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help W13130 Pastures to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 W13130 Pastures in the consumer business. Now W13130 Pastures can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 W13130 Pastures 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, W13130 Pastures is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for W13130 Pastures 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 W13130 Pastures to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help W13130 Pastures to increase its market reach. W13130 Pastures 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.
Buying journey improvements
– W13130 Pastures can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) 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.
Loyalty marketing
– W13130 Pastures 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, W13130 Pastures 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, Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) are -
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. W13130 Pastures can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– W13130 Pastures 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. W13130 Pastures can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on W13130 Pastures 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– W13130 Pastures 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 W13130 Pastures
– 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 W13130 Pastures.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– W13130 Pastures has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, W13130 Pastures needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. W13130 Pastures 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents W13130 Pastures with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 W13130 Pastures in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. W13130 Pastures needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B), W13130 Pastures 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) 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 Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) 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 Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) 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 Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) 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 Cool Pastures Dairy and Kenya's Changing Market for Milk (B) 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 W13130 Pastures needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.