Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal
The managing partners of two private equity firms are hoping to forestall a third bidding round for a target company, the European beverage division of Cadbury Schweppes. As they wait to meet with the CEO, they revisit their assumptions on the deal and review the insights that informed their valuation.
Authors :: G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner, Ann Leamon
Swot Analysis of "Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal" written by G. Felda Hardymon, Josh Lerner, Ann Leamon includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Orangina Forestall facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Joint ventures, Mergers & acquisitions, Negotiations and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Orangina Forestall, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Orangina Forestall 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 Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Orangina Forestall
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 Orangina Forestall
Strengths Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Orangina Forestall in Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Orangina Forestall
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Orangina Forestall does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Orangina Forestall has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Orangina Forestall to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Orangina Forestall in the sector have low bargaining power. Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Orangina Forestall to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Orangina Forestall in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Orangina Forestall has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Orangina Forestall 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Orangina Forestall 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Orangina Forestall is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Orangina Forestall 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 Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Orangina Forestall 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Orangina Forestall is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Orangina Forestall has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal 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.
Weaknesses Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Orangina Forestall 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 Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal, is just above the industry average. Orangina Forestall 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
Orangina Forestall 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 Orangina Forestall products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Orangina Forestall needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal 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 Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Orangina Forestall is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Orangina Forestall, firm in the HBR case study Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal 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 Orangina Forestall 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Orangina Forestall 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Orangina Forestall is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Orangina Forestall 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 Orangina Forestall is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Orangina Forestall needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Orangina Forestall to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal | 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 Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal 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 Orangina Forestall in the consumer business. Now Orangina Forestall can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Orangina Forestall 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.
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. Orangina Forestall can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Orangina Forestall 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Orangina Forestall is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal 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.
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. Orangina Forestall can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Orangina Forestall can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Orangina Forestall operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Orangina Forestall 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Orangina Forestall 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 Orangina Forestall to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Orangina Forestall to increase its market reach. Orangina Forestall 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Orangina Forestall 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.
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 Orangina Forestall 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Orangina Forestall 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, Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Orangina Forestall 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
– Orangina Forestall has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Orangina Forestall 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 wage structure of Orangina Forestall
– 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 Orangina Forestall.
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 Orangina Forestall.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Orangina Forestall 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 Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal .
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Orangina Forestall 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.
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. Orangina Forestall 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Orangina Forestall is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Orangina Forestall needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Orangina Forestall can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Orangina Forestall 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 Orangina Forestall business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal 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 Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal 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 Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal 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 Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal 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 Lion Capital and the Blackstone Group: The Orangina Deal 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 Orangina Forestall needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
