Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity
The owner/operator of Spruce Lawn Farms, a cash crop farm located near London, Ontario, was thinking of expanding his operation to include identity-preserved soybeans and a grain dryer. The farm had been in operation for 12 years and consisted of 650 acres of owned land with plans to increase this through renting neighbouring fields to 2,000 acres by 2015. Current crops included genetically modified winter wheat, corn and soybeans, but given the growing backlash against genetically modified foods in Europe and Asia, he was considering adding certified identity-preserved soybeans as well. His back-of-the-envelope calculations seemed to indicate that the venture would pay off. However, when he approached his financial institution for a loan, they were concerned about how the new venture would change the farm's financial structure.
Swot Analysis of "Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity" written by Mark B. Vandenbosch, Ron Anderson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Soybeans Spruce facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
technology disruption, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Soybeans Spruce, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Soybeans Spruce 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 Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Soybeans Spruce
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 Soybeans Spruce
Strengths Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Soybeans Spruce in Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Soybeans Spruce to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Soybeans Spruce to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Soybeans Spruce has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Soybeans Spruce to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Soybeans Spruce 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 Soybeans Spruce is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Soybeans Spruce is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Soybeans Spruce is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Soybeans Spruce is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity 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 Soybeans Spruce 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 Soybeans Spruce digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Soybeans Spruce 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
– Soybeans Spruce 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 Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Soybeans Spruce is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Soybeans Spruce 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.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Soybeans Spruce is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Soybeans Spruce in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity 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 Soybeans Spruce 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity, it seems that the employees of Soybeans Spruce 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Soybeans Spruce is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Soybeans Spruce needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Soybeans Spruce to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Soybeans Spruce 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity, 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity 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 Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Soybeans Spruce is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Soybeans Spruce 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. Soybeans Spruce 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity, is just above the industry average. Soybeans Spruce 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Soybeans Spruce 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, Soybeans Spruce is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Mark B. Vandenbosch, Ron Anderson suggests that, Soybeans Spruce 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.
Opportunities Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity | 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 Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Soybeans Spruce 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, Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Soybeans Spruce can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Soybeans Spruce in the consumer business. Now Soybeans Spruce can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Soybeans Spruce 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.
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. Soybeans Spruce can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Soybeans Spruce 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Soybeans Spruce 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 Soybeans Spruce to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Soybeans Spruce 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Soybeans Spruce to increase its market reach. Soybeans Spruce 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Soybeans Spruce can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Soybeans Spruce 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 Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Soybeans Spruce to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Soybeans Spruce is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Soybeans Spruce can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Soybeans Spruce operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Threats Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity are -
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. Soybeans Spruce 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
– Soybeans Spruce 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Soybeans Spruce is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Soybeans Spruce has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Soybeans Spruce needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Soybeans Spruce 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 Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity .
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. Soybeans Spruce needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Soybeans Spruce
– 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 Soybeans Spruce.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Soybeans Spruce with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Soybeans Spruce business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity, Soybeans Spruce 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 .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Soybeans Spruce 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Soybeans Spruce 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity 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 Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity 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 Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity 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 Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity 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 Spruce Lawn Farms: The IP Bean Opportunity 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 Soybeans Spruce needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.