Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica
Summarizes contents of two full-length cases. The cases provide examples of two different approaches to managing complex multi-party negotiations with stakeholders. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
Swot Analysis of "Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica" written by James K. Sebenius, Hannah Riley includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Honduras Contents facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Negotiations, Sustainability and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Honduras Contents, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Honduras Contents 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 Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Honduras Contents
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 Honduras Contents
Strengths Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Honduras Contents in Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Honduras Contents has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Honduras Contents 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 Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Honduras Contents is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Honduras Contents 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Honduras Contents in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Honduras Contents in the sector have low bargaining power. Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Honduras Contents to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Honduras Contents digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Honduras Contents 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.
Learning organization
- Honduras Contents 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 Honduras Contents is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Honduras Contents has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Honduras Contents to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Honduras Contents 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 James K. Sebenius, Hannah Riley 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Honduras Contents is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Honduras Contents is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica 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.
Weaknesses Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica HBR case study mentions - Honduras Contents 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Honduras Contents products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Honduras Contents needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Honduras Contents needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica, it seems that the employees of Honduras Contents 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Honduras Contents is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Honduras Contents needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Honduras Contents 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 Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica 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 Honduras Contents 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Honduras Contents 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Honduras Contents 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Honduras Contents, firm in the HBR case study Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Honduras Contents has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Honduras Contents 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.
Opportunities Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica | 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 Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Honduras Contents 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, Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Honduras Contents 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 Honduras Contents to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Honduras Contents is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Honduras Contents 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Honduras Contents 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Honduras Contents has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Honduras Contents to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica case study. Honduras Contents can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Honduras Contents can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Honduras Contents can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica 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.
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. Honduras Contents can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Honduras Contents 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. Honduras Contents 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Honduras Contents can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Honduras Contents can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Honduras Contents operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
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 Honduras Contents in the consumer business. Now Honduras Contents can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica are -
Increasing wage structure of Honduras Contents
– 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 Honduras Contents.
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. Honduras Contents can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Honduras Contents in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Honduras Contents 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. Honduras Contents can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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 Honduras Contents business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Honduras Contents needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Honduras Contents is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Honduras Contents 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Honduras Contents 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Honduras Contents has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Honduras Contents 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.
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 Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica, Honduras Contents 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica 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 Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica 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 Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica 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 Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica 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 Case Brief: Stone Container in Honduras and Costa Rica 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 Honduras Contents needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
