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 - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, 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 -
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.
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.
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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bega Vegemite in the sector have low bargaining power. Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bega Vegemite to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Bega Vegemite 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.
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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Bega Vegemite has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bega Vegemite 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
– 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.
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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Bega Vegemite 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 Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
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 -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Bega Vegemite needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Bega Vegemite 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.
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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Bega Vegemite 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.
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.
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.
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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home HBR case study mentions - Bega Vegemite 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 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.
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.
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.
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 -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Bega Vegemite can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Bega Vegemite 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. Bega Vegemite 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.
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.
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.
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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Bega Vegemite can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Bega Vegemite operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
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.
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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bega Vegemite to increase its market reach. Bega Vegemite 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.
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 Bega Vegemite in the consumer business. Now Bega Vegemite can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 -
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.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bega Vegemite 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bega Vegemite with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Bega Cheese: Bidding to Bring Vegemite Back Home, Bega Vegemite may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
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.
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 .
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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bega Vegemite 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.
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.
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.
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.