R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women
While R. J. Reynolds prepares to launch a new cigarette designed to recapture a portion of the 18- to 24-year-old female market from Philip Morris's rival Marlboro, a small health advocacy group receives an anonymous package exposing the marketing plans for the new brand. Poses the tactical strategies of the public health advocates against the defensive strategies of RJR as each group pursues its own goals.
Swot Analysis of "R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women" written by Robbin Derry, Sachin Waikar includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cigarette Reynolds's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Social responsibility, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cigarette Reynolds's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cigarette Reynolds's 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 R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cigarette Reynolds's
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 Cigarette Reynolds's
Strengths R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cigarette Reynolds's in R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Cigarette Reynolds's 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 R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women - 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 brand equity
– Cigarette Reynolds's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cigarette Reynolds's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Cigarette Reynolds's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Cigarette Reynolds's 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cigarette Reynolds's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Cigarette Reynolds's 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.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cigarette Reynolds's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cigarette Reynolds's 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
– Cigarette Reynolds's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cigarette Reynolds's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Cigarette Reynolds's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Cigarette Reynolds's 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 Cigarette Reynolds's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Cigarette Reynolds's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women 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
– Cigarette Reynolds's 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 Cigarette Reynolds's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women HBR case study mentions - Cigarette Reynolds's 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Cigarette Reynolds's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Cigarette Reynolds's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Cigarette Reynolds's 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 R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women 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 Cigarette Reynolds's 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Cigarette Reynolds's 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women, 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women, it seems that the employees of Cigarette Reynolds's 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Cigarette Reynolds's has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Cigarette Reynolds's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cigarette Reynolds's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cigarette Reynolds's 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 to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cigarette Reynolds's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women, is just above the industry average. Cigarette Reynolds's needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Opportunities R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women | 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 R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cigarette Reynolds's 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.
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. Cigarette Reynolds's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Cigarette Reynolds's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women 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.
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 Cigarette Reynolds's in the consumer business. Now Cigarette Reynolds's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Cigarette Reynolds's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Cigarette Reynolds's 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Cigarette Reynolds's 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cigarette Reynolds's 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cigarette Reynolds's 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 Cigarette Reynolds's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cigarette Reynolds's 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Cigarette Reynolds's 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. Cigarette Reynolds's 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. Cigarette Reynolds's 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cigarette Reynolds's to increase its market reach. Cigarette Reynolds's 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.
Threats R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women are -
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 Cigarette Reynolds's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women, Cigarette Reynolds's 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 .
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 Cigarette Reynolds's.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Cigarette Reynolds's 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.
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. Cigarette Reynolds's 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
– Cigarette Reynolds's 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cigarette Reynolds's 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 R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women .
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. Cigarette Reynolds's 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Cigarette Reynolds's 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 wage structure of Cigarette Reynolds's
– 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 Cigarette Reynolds's.
Regulatory challenges
– Cigarette Reynolds's 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. Cigarette Reynolds's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Cigarette Reynolds's in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women 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 R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women 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 R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women 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 R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women 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 R. J. Reynolds's Dakota Cigarette (A1): Designed for Young Women 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 Cigarette Reynolds's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
