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Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

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.

Authors :: Nadine A Yehya, W. Timothy Coombs

Topics :: Strategy & Execution

Tags :: Crisis management, Public relations, Strategy, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

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 - – wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc



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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 -

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.

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.

Innovation driven organization

– Khoury Dairy is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives 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 Khoury Dairy 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.

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.

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.

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.

Training and development

– Khoury Dairy has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Khoury Dairy 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.

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.

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.






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 -

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives 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 Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Khoury Dairy is planning to shift buying processes online.

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.

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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives, in the dynamic environment Khoury Dairy has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Khoury Dairy has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Khoury Dairy has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Khoury Dairy even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.

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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Khoury Dairy 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 - Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives, is just above the industry average. Khoury Dairy 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 Khoury Dairy is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Khoury Dairy needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Khoury Dairy to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives 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 Khoury Dairy has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Khoury Dairy, firm in the HBR case study Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.




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 -

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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Khoury Dairy can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Strategy & Execution segment.

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.

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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Khoury Dairy can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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.

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 Khoury Dairy in the consumer business. Now Khoury Dairy can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Khoury Dairy 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, Catalytic Defiance as a Crisis Communication Strategy: The Risk of Pursuing Long-Term Objectives, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.




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 -

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.

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 Khoury Dairy.

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.

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.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Khoury Dairy has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Khoury Dairy 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.

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.

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.

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 .

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.

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.

Instability in the European markets

– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Khoury Dairy will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.

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.




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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