mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal
In 2017, the German company mymuesli GmbH (mymuesli) was operating in six European countries. Having begun to successfully distribute its customizable organic breakfast cereals online, mymuesli built on its growing popularity by opening stores in various cities across Germany, Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and Sweden, where the most popular versions of the product were sold. The relatively young company differentiated itself with its customizable, premium organic products, and relied on its strengths to adapt to lifestyle and health trends. After a conversation in early 2017 with fellow hotel guests hailing from different European countries, the three founders of mymuesli were convinced that entering new countries might be a promising option for the company's future growth. They began to analyze the maturing industry and its impacts on the company's growth plans. Marc Fetscherin is affiliated with Rollins College.
Swot Analysis of "mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal" written by Marc Fetscherin, Elena Kasper includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mymuesli Customizable facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mymuesli Customizable, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mymuesli Customizable 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 mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mymuesli Customizable
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Mymuesli Customizable
Strengths mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mymuesli Customizable in mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Mymuesli Customizable 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 Mymuesli Customizable in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Mymuesli Customizable in the sector have low bargaining power. mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Mymuesli Customizable to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Mymuesli Customizable 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.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Mymuesli Customizable digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Mymuesli Customizable 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal 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.
Organizational Resilience of Mymuesli Customizable
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mymuesli Customizable does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Mymuesli Customizable is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal 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
- Mymuesli Customizable 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 Mymuesli Customizable is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mymuesli Customizable 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 mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mymuesli Customizable to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mymuesli Customizable to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Mymuesli Customizable has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Mymuesli Customizable to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Mymuesli Customizable has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal 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.
Weaknesses mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal, in the dynamic environment Mymuesli Customizable has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Mymuesli Customizable has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Mymuesli Customizable, firm in the HBR case study mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal, it seems that the employees of Mymuesli Customizable don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal, is just above the industry average. Mymuesli Customizable 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal 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 Mymuesli Customizable has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Marc Fetscherin, Elena Kasper suggests that, Mymuesli Customizable 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal HBR case study mentions - Mymuesli Customizable 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Mymuesli Customizable is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Mymuesli Customizable needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Mymuesli Customizable to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Mymuesli Customizable 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 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 Mymuesli Customizable supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Mymuesli Customizable vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Mymuesli Customizable 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. Mymuesli Customizable 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.
Opportunities mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal | 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 mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Mymuesli Customizable is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Mymuesli Customizable can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Mymuesli Customizable 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.
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. Mymuesli Customizable can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Mymuesli Customizable 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
– Mymuesli Customizable 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Mymuesli Customizable 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Mymuesli Customizable in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Developing new processes and practices
– Mymuesli Customizable can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Mymuesli Customizable 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. Mymuesli Customizable 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Mymuesli Customizable can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mymuesli Customizable 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Mymuesli Customizable has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Mymuesli Customizable to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal case study. Mymuesli Customizable can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Mymuesli Customizable 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 mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mymuesli Customizable 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.
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 Mymuesli Customizable business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Mymuesli Customizable with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Mymuesli Customizable.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mymuesli Customizable is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Mymuesli Customizable can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Mymuesli Customizable
– 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 Mymuesli Customizable.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Mymuesli Customizable has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mymuesli Customizable needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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 Mymuesli Customizable in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Mymuesli Customizable needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal 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 mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal 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 mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal 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 mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal 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 mymuesli: New Markets for Customized Breakfast Cereal 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 Mymuesli Customizable needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
