Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp
How can business analytics be used to evaluate the potential risks of developing and marketing a "unique" product that has been proven to be sustainable, but public opinion about the product may be hindering its acceptance? The unique product is a clothing line made from industrial hemp. Hemp lacks the effects of Tetrahydrocannabinol (cannabis), but it is an extremely versatile, natural, and sustainable product. The case is about a company that consistently and successfully promotes unique products, like apparel made from hemp. It is also about the use of analytical techniques for financial risk assessment. If you are an entrepreneur with an idea for developing a unique product, this case will inform you about enterprise sustainability, enlighten you about hemp products, and provide you with an analytical tool designed for evaluating the financial risks involved with such a venture.
Swot Analysis of "Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp" written by Dennis F. X. Mathaisal includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hemp Unique facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Forecasting, Pricing, Product development, Risk management, Sustainability and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, 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%, geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hemp Unique, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hemp Unique 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 Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hemp Unique
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 Hemp Unique
Strengths Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hemp Unique in Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Hemp Unique in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Hemp Unique is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Dennis F. X. Mathaisal can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
High brand equity
– Hemp Unique has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Hemp Unique to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Hemp Unique 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 Hemp Unique in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Hemp Unique is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Hemp Unique 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Hemp Unique in the sector have low bargaining power. Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Hemp Unique to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Hemp Unique is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Hemp Unique 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Hemp Unique digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Hemp Unique 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Hemp Unique 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 Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Hemp Unique is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Hemp Unique is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Hemp Unique products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Hemp Unique needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Hemp Unique has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Hemp Unique, firm in the HBR case study Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Hemp Unique 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 - Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Hemp Unique is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Hemp Unique needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Hemp Unique to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Hemp Unique 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp HBR case study mentions - Hemp Unique 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp, in the dynamic environment Hemp Unique has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Hemp Unique has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Dennis F. X. Mathaisal suggests that, Hemp Unique 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Hemp Unique 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.
Opportunities Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp | 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 Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Hemp Unique 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, Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Hemp Unique in the consumer business. Now Hemp Unique can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Hemp Unique 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Hemp Unique 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Hemp Unique can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Hemp Unique 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 Hemp Unique to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Hemp Unique 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Hemp Unique can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Hemp Unique can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Hemp Unique to increase its market reach. Hemp Unique 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Hemp Unique 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.
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. Hemp Unique 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. Hemp Unique 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Hemp Unique can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Hemp Unique operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Threats Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp are -
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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Hemp Unique 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 Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp .
Regulatory challenges
– Hemp Unique 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.
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 Hemp Unique business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Hemp Unique 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.
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. Hemp Unique 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.
Increasing wage structure of Hemp Unique
– 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 Hemp Unique.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Hemp Unique 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.
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 Hemp Unique.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp, Hemp Unique 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 .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Hemp Unique is facing in Leadership & Managing People 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 Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Hemp Unique can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp 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 Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp 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 Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp 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 Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp 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 Analytics for the Sustainability of Unique Products: The Case of Hemp 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 Hemp Unique needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
