Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives
In 2014, Dairy Khoury, a medium-sized family dairy located in Lebanon, was accused of using a health-threatening carcinogenic substance as a preservative in its products. The news created an immediate food safety concern and a product harm crisis, resulting in dramatic reputation loss and operational risks to Dairy Khoury. In this article, we analyze Dairy Khoury's response to the product harm crisis through an examination of the communication strategies used to address internal and external stakeholders. We then introduce traditional corrective action response strategies from the crisis communication literature. In the Dairy Khoury case study, the company opted to defend its reputation and clarify the misunderstanding using catalytic defiance, a long-term crisis response strategy. Our analysis provides insight regarding the risks and benefits of pursuing long-term versus short-term strategies during crisis recovery. This article contributes to crisis communication theory and practice and sheds light on the dynamics of crisis management in family businesses.
Swot Analysis of "Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives" written by Nadine A Yehya, W. Timothy Coombs includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Khoury Dairy facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Crisis management, Public relations, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, 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 ,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Khoury Dairy, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Khoury Dairy 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 Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Khoury Dairy
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 Khoury Dairy
Strengths Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Khoury Dairy in Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Khoury Dairy is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Khoury Dairy 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
- Khoury Dairy 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 Khoury Dairy is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Khoury Dairy is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives 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 lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Khoury Dairy 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 Khoury Dairy in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Khoury Dairy has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Khoury Dairy 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Khoury Dairy in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Khoury Dairy 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 Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives - 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 Strategy & Execution industry
– Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Khoury Dairy to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Khoury Dairy to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Khoury Dairy
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Khoury Dairy does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Khoury Dairy has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Khoury Dairy to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Khoury Dairy 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 Khoury Dairy supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Khoury Dairy vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Khoury Dairy 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives, 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Nadine A Yehya, W. Timothy Coombs suggests that, Khoury Dairy 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Khoury Dairy 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Khoury Dairy products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Khoury Dairy needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives 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 Khoury Dairy 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Khoury Dairy 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives HBR case study mentions - Khoury Dairy 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Khoury Dairy 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.
Opportunities Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives | 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 Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives are -
Buying journey improvements
– Khoury Dairy can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Khoury Dairy 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Khoury Dairy 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 Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Khoury Dairy to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Khoury Dairy 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Khoury Dairy can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Khoury Dairy to increase its market reach. Khoury Dairy 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Khoury Dairy 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.
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. Khoury Dairy can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Khoury Dairy 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. Khoury Dairy can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Khoury Dairy 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 Khoury Dairy to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Khoury Dairy is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives 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.
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. Khoury Dairy 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. Khoury Dairy 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.
Threats Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives are -
Regulatory challenges
– Khoury Dairy 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Khoury Dairy is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Khoury Dairy 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. Khoury Dairy 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 Khoury Dairy 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. Khoury Dairy needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Khoury Dairy 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 Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives, Khoury Dairy 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 .
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. Khoury Dairy can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Khoury Dairy in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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.
Increasing wage structure of Khoury Dairy
– 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 Khoury Dairy.
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 Khoury Dairy in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Khoury Dairy 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives 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 Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives 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 Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives 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 Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives 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 Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives 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 Khoury Dairy needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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