Swot Analysis of "Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion" written by Lynn Sharp Paine includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Beech Nut facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT, Product development, Regulation and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Beech Nut, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Beech Nut 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 Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Beech Nut
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Technology & Operations field.
4. Making a Technology & Operations topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Beech Nut
Strengths Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Beech Nut in Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Beech Nut 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 Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Beech Nut is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Beech Nut is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion 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 Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Beech Nut digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Beech Nut 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
– Beech Nut is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Beech Nut 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 Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Beech Nut to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Beech Nut to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Beech Nut in the sector have low bargaining power. Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Beech Nut to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Beech Nut 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 Lynn Sharp Paine 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Beech Nut 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Beech Nut 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 Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion, in the dynamic environment Beech Nut has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Beech Nut has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Beech Nut supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Beech Nut vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Beech Nut 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Beech Nut is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Beech Nut 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Beech Nut 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 - Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Beech Nut products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Beech Nut needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Beech Nut is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Beech Nut needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Beech Nut to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Technology & Operations 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Beech Nut 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion 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 Beech Nut has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion | 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 Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Beech Nut in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Technology & Operations segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Buying journey improvements
– Beech Nut can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Beech Nut is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Beech Nut 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Beech Nut has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Beech Nut to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion case study. Beech Nut can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Beech Nut in the consumer business. Now Beech Nut 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 Beech Nut 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Beech Nut 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 Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Beech Nut to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Beech Nut 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 Technology & Operations segment.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Beech Nut 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, Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Beech Nut 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.
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. Beech Nut can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Beech Nut 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.
Threats Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Beech Nut in the Technology & Operations industry. The Technology & Operations industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
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 Beech Nut in the Technology & Operations 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 Beech Nut with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Beech Nut 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.
Environmental challenges
– Beech Nut 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. Beech Nut can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations 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 Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion, Beech Nut may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Technology & Operations .
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 Beech Nut business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Beech Nut has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Beech Nut needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Technology & Operations 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Beech Nut 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Beech Nut 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 Technology & Operations industry regulations.
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 Beech Nut.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion 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 Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion 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 Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion 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 Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion 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 Beech-Nut Nutrition Corp. (C): Conclusion 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 Beech Nut needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
