OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge"
OrganiGram Holdings Inc. (OrganiGram), a New Brunswick-based company, was a licensed producer of medical cannabis in Canada. On April 20, 2016, the Canadian government announced that legislation to legalize recreational cannabis would be introduced in the spring of 2017 with the intention of having it become law in the spring of 2018. The announcement triggered expansion activities at all of Canada's largest licensed producers of cannabis. However, there were many unknowns in terms of how the legalization of recreational cannabis would happen. What would the timeline be? Who would be allowed to grow cannabis? In anticipation of regulatory changes, OrganiGram needed to analyze the Canadian cannabis industry and engage in a scenario-planning exercise. How could OrganiGram move through this time of uncertainty, while both creating a strategy for the anticipated recreational cannabis market and continuing to work on its medical cannabis sales? Opal Leung is affiliated with St. Francis Xavier University.
Swot Analysis of "OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge"" written by Opal Leung includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cannabis Organigram facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Supply chain and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge"
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cannabis Organigram, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cannabis Organigram 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 OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cannabis Organigram
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Cannabis Organigram
Strengths OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cannabis Organigram in OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cannabis Organigram 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Cannabis Organigram 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 Cannabis Organigram in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Cannabis Organigram
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cannabis Organigram does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cannabis Organigram 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 OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cannabis Organigram 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
– Cannabis Organigram is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Cannabis Organigram 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 OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" - 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 Leadership & Managing People industry
– OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cannabis Organigram to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cannabis Organigram to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cannabis Organigram is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cannabis Organigram is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Cannabis Organigram 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 Cannabis Organigram is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Cannabis Organigram 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Cannabis Organigram 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge", is just above the industry average. Cannabis Organigram 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Cannabis Organigram is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Cannabis Organigram needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Cannabis Organigram to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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 Cannabis Organigram supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge", it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cannabis Organigram vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Cannabis Organigram 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Opal Leung suggests that, Cannabis Organigram is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" 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 Cannabis Organigram has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" 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 OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cannabis Organigram is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cannabis Organigram is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge", it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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.
Opportunities OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" | 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 OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cannabis Organigram 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, OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge", to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Cannabis Organigram can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.
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 Cannabis Organigram in the consumer business. Now Cannabis Organigram can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cannabis Organigram 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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cannabis Organigram can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cannabis Organigram in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Buying journey improvements
– Cannabis Organigram can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cannabis Organigram 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 Cannabis Organigram to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cannabis Organigram has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cannabis Organigram to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" case study. Cannabis Organigram can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cannabis Organigram can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Cannabis Organigram 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Cannabis Organigram 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. Cannabis Organigram 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Cannabis Organigram is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" 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.
Threats OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" are -
Environmental challenges
– Cannabis Organigram 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. Cannabis Organigram can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Cannabis Organigram needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People 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 Cannabis Organigram in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cannabis Organigram is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cannabis Organigram 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 Cannabis Organigram
– 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 Cannabis Organigram.
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 Cannabis Organigram.
Regulatory challenges
– Cannabis Organigram 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cannabis Organigram has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cannabis Organigram needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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 Cannabis Organigram 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge", Cannabis Organigram may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Cannabis Organigram with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" 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 OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" 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 OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" 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 OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" 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 OrganiGram: Navigating the Cannabis Industry with "Grey Knowledge" 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 Cannabis Organigram needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.