Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version

Molino Canuelas was a vertically integrated food company with a management system that allowed it to innovate and grow systematically. With sales of $2 billion in 2016, the firm not only produced flour, vegetable oil and packaged food products; it also owned a port terminal, a packaging plat and an Agribusiness Services Division to support over 8,000 agricultural producers. CEO and Chairman Aldo Navilli, who had run the company since 1986 and had developed its management system, wanted to ensure that as the company grew and expanded, it would maintain its culture and working style. The company was exporting to 32 countries and had manufacturing plants in Brazil and Uruguay. As it continued its international expansion, should it follow the same vertical integration strategy in other countries or should it develop its retail business through partnerships or alliances?

Authors :: Jose B. Alvarez, Mariana Cal, Fernanda Miguel

Topics :: Finance & Accounting

Tags :: International business, Mergers & acquisitions, Product development, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version" written by Jose B. Alvarez, Mariana Cal, Fernanda Miguel includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Canuelas Molino facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Mergers & acquisitions, Product development and Finance & Accounting.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Canuelas Molino, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Canuelas Molino 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Canuelas Molino
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 Canuelas Molino

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Strengths Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Canuelas Molino in Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study are -

Learning organization

- Canuelas Molino 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 Canuelas Molino is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Canuelas Molino in the sector have low bargaining power. Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Canuelas Molino to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Canuelas Molino 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

– Canuelas Molino is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Canuelas Molino in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Canuelas Molino 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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Canuelas Molino is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version 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.

Analytics focus

– Canuelas Molino 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 Jose B. Alvarez, Mariana Cal, Fernanda Miguel 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

– Canuelas Molino has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version 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.

Diverse revenue streams

– Canuelas Molino is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version 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.

High brand equity

– Canuelas Molino has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Canuelas Molino to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

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Weaknesses Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version are -

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version 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 Canuelas Molino 's lucrative customers.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version, it seems that the employees of Canuelas Molino don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Canuelas Molino 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 - Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Canuelas Molino 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.

Lack of clear differentiation of Canuelas Molino products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Canuelas Molino needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version, 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Canuelas Molino 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Canuelas Molino is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Canuelas Molino needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Canuelas Molino to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Canuelas Molino has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Canuelas Molino even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Canuelas Molino, firm in the HBR case study Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Canuelas Molino is planning to shift buying processes online.

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Opportunities Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version | 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 Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version are -

Developing new processes and practices

– Canuelas Molino can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.

Loyalty marketing

– Canuelas Molino 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.

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 Canuelas Molino in the consumer business. Now Canuelas Molino can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Canuelas Molino 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.

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. Canuelas Molino can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Canuelas Molino 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 Canuelas Molino to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Canuelas Molino 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.

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. Canuelas Molino 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 Canuelas Molino 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Canuelas Molino has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Canuelas Molino to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version case study. Canuelas Molino can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

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. Canuelas Molino 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. Canuelas Molino 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Canuelas Molino 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 Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Canuelas Molino to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Canuelas Molino to increase its market reach. Canuelas Molino 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.

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Threats Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version are -

Regulatory challenges

– Canuelas Molino 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Canuelas Molino has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Canuelas Molino 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.

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 Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version, Canuelas Molino 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 .

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Canuelas Molino with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Canuelas Molino 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 Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version .

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 Canuelas Molino.

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. Canuelas Molino needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Canuelas Molino 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.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Canuelas Molino 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.

Environmental challenges

– Canuelas Molino 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. Canuelas Molino 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. Canuelas Molino 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 Canuelas Molino

– 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 Canuelas Molino.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version 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 Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version 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 Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version 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 Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version 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 Molino Canuelas: Serving Customers from Seed Development to the Kitchen Table, Spanish Version 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 Canuelas Molino needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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