Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home
In January 2017, the leadership team of Bega Cheese-the Australian dairy company-was considering a bid for Mondelez International's Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) grocery business which included several leading consumer brands such as Vegemite, the iconic Australian spread. The team must decide whether to bid for the division and, if so, how much to offer and how to finance the all-cash bid. Making these decisions was difficult because this would be Bega's largest acquisition ever and it would extend the firm outside of its core dairy business. In addition to the valuation and financing issues, the leadership team must decide whether shifting from the firm's current B2B business model (manufacturing and processing dairy products) to more of a B2C business model (a producer of branded consumer foods) made sense strategically.
Swot Analysis of "Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home" written by Benjamin C. Esty, Lauren G. Pickle includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bega Vegemite facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Branding, Financial analysis, Financial management, Growth strategy, Mergers & acquisitions, Negotiations, Risk management and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bega Vegemite, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bega Vegemite 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 Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bega Vegemite
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Bega Vegemite
Strengths Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bega Vegemite in Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bega Vegemite 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 Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bega Vegemite is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Bega Vegemite in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bega Vegemite digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bega Vegemite 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.
Training and development
– Bega Vegemite has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Bega Vegemite 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 brand equity
– Bega Vegemite has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bega Vegemite to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Bega Vegemite is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home 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 Bega Vegemite 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home 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.
Learning organization
- Bega Vegemite 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 Bega Vegemite is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Bega Vegemite is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home 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.
Weaknesses Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bega Vegemite is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Finance & Accounting 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home, is just above the industry average. Bega Vegemite 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Bega Vegemite 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Bega Vegemite, firm in the HBR case study Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Bega Vegemite 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 - Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home, in the dynamic environment Bega Vegemite has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bega Vegemite has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Lack of clear differentiation of Bega Vegemite products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Bega Vegemite needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Bega Vegemite 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Bega Vegemite is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Bega Vegemite needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bega Vegemite to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home 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 Bega Vegemite 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home | 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 Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bega Vegemite 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 Bega Vegemite has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bega Vegemite to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home case study. Bega Vegemite can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Bega Vegemite can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bega Vegemite 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, Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bega Vegemite 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Bega Vegemite 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 Finance & Accounting segment.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Bega Vegemite 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 Bega Vegemite to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Bega Vegemite 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Bega Vegemite can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home 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.
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. Bega Vegemite 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 Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Bega Vegemite can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bega Vegemite in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Loyalty marketing
– Bega Vegemite 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.
Threats Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bega Vegemite is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Bega Vegemite 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. Bega Vegemite can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Bega Vegemite 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 Bega Vegemite
– 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 Bega Vegemite.
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. Bega Vegemite 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bega Vegemite in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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.
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 Bega Vegemite.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Bega Vegemite has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bega Vegemite needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Bega Vegemite 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 Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home .
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.
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 Bega Vegemite business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bega Vegemite demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
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. Bega Vegemite needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home 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 Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home 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 Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home 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 Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home 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 Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home 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 Bega Vegemite needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
