Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe
Mhuri Enterprise had beaten the odds, and figured out a way to cut production costs to bring its pigs to market and make a profit. Small-scale enterprises faced a large number of financial, regulatory, and business barriers in Zimbabwe, a country where 70 percent of the population relied on agriculture as a source of income. Land reforms in 1998 had led to an increase in the number of small-to-medium enterprise farmers, but the lack of scale meant low productivity. This case study examines how Mhuri Enterprise, a cooperative pig farm that started with 30 families, restructured the value chain to cut production costs and established its own slaughterhouse facilities to circumvent monopolistic processing fees. The case offers a close look at the full range of fees and costs associated with a livestock ventures-including costs not unique to the situation in Zimbabwe.
Swot Analysis of "Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe" written by Hau Lee, Richard Chivaka includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mhuri Zimbabwe facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Economy, Emerging markets, Entrepreneurship, Marketing, Supply chain and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, 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%, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mhuri Zimbabwe, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mhuri Zimbabwe 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 Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mhuri Zimbabwe
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 Mhuri Zimbabwe
Strengths Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mhuri Zimbabwe in Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Mhuri Zimbabwe
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mhuri Zimbabwe does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Mhuri Zimbabwe 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 Hau Lee, Richard Chivaka 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.
Training and development
– Mhuri Zimbabwe has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mhuri Zimbabwe 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 Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Mhuri Zimbabwe has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Mhuri Zimbabwe to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Mhuri Zimbabwe 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mhuri Zimbabwe to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mhuri Zimbabwe to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Mhuri Zimbabwe is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Mhuri Zimbabwe 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 Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Mhuri Zimbabwe has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mhuri Zimbabwe 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.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Mhuri Zimbabwe digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Mhuri Zimbabwe 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.
Weaknesses Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Mhuri Zimbabwe 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Mhuri Zimbabwe is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe HBR case study mentions - Mhuri Zimbabwe 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe 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 Mhuri Zimbabwe has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Hau Lee, Richard Chivaka suggests that, Mhuri Zimbabwe 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
– Mhuri Zimbabwe 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Mhuri Zimbabwe products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Mhuri Zimbabwe needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe, is just above the industry average. Mhuri Zimbabwe 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe 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 Mhuri Zimbabwe 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Mhuri Zimbabwe has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Opportunities Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe | 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 Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe are -
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 Mhuri Zimbabwe in the consumer business. Now Mhuri Zimbabwe can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Mhuri Zimbabwe is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe 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.
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. Mhuri Zimbabwe 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. Mhuri Zimbabwe 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Mhuri Zimbabwe has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Mhuri Zimbabwe to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe case study. Mhuri Zimbabwe 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 Mhuri Zimbabwe to increase its market reach. Mhuri Zimbabwe 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mhuri Zimbabwe 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Mhuri Zimbabwe 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, Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Mhuri Zimbabwe has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Mhuri Zimbabwe to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Mhuri Zimbabwe 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Mhuri Zimbabwe can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Mhuri Zimbabwe 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mhuri Zimbabwe can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mhuri Zimbabwe operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Mhuri Zimbabwe to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Threats Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe 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. Mhuri Zimbabwe needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Mhuri Zimbabwe in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Increasing wage structure of Mhuri Zimbabwe
– 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 Mhuri Zimbabwe.
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 Mhuri Zimbabwe business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mhuri Zimbabwe 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Mhuri Zimbabwe has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mhuri Zimbabwe 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Mhuri Zimbabwe 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry regulations.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mhuri Zimbabwe is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Mhuri Zimbabwe 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. Mhuri Zimbabwe can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
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. Mhuri Zimbabwe 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.
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 Mhuri Zimbabwe.
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 Mhuri Zimbabwe in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe 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 Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe 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 Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe 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 Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe 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 Mhuri Enterprise: Innovating the Value Chain of Small-Scale Pig-Farms in Zimbabwe 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 Mhuri Zimbabwe needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.