Case Study Description of Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts
This case outlines the turnaround efforts Snow Brand undertook to address its grave missteps: shifting to a consumer-oriented, integrity-focused management style; providing greater transparency and communication; establishing a corporate ethics committee and a Snow Brands Code of Conduct. In June 2002, after much consideration and reflection on Snow Brand's issues (as outlined in the A case), consumer activist Nobuko Hiwasa joined its new board as its sole outside director, serving as the impetus for the changes the company made. Her appointment indicated Snow Brand Milk Products was indeed serious about reform and revitalization.
Authors :: Jenny Mead, Regina Wolfe, Akira Saito, Daryl Koehn
Topics :: Global Business
Tags :: Crisis management, Ethics, International business, Leadership, Public relations, Social responsibility, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts" written by Jenny Mead, Regina Wolfe, Akira Saito, Daryl Koehn includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Snow Revitalization facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Crisis management, Ethics, International business, Leadership, Public relations, Social responsibility and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption,
geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Snow Revitalization, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Snow Revitalization 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 Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Snow Revitalization
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Snow Revitalization
Strengths Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Snow Revitalization in Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Snow Revitalization 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 Snow Revitalization in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Snow Revitalization is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts 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.
Analytics focus
– Snow Revitalization 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 Jenny Mead, Regina Wolfe, Akira Saito, Daryl Koehn 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Snow Revitalization to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Snow Revitalization to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Snow Revitalization in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Snow Revitalization has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Snow Revitalization to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Snow Revitalization 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 Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Snow Revitalization is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Snow Revitalization is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Snow Revitalization
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Snow Revitalization does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Snow Revitalization 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.
Weaknesses Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Snow Revitalization 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. Snow Revitalization 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Snow Revitalization 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 Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Snow Revitalization 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts 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 Snow Revitalization 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Snow Revitalization is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Snow Revitalization needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Snow Revitalization to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts HBR case study mentions - Snow Revitalization takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Snow Revitalization 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 - Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts 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 Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Snow Revitalization is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts, it seems that the employees of Snow Revitalization 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.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Snow Revitalization supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Snow Revitalization vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts | 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 Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Snow Revitalization has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Snow Revitalization to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts case study. Snow Revitalization can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Snow Revitalization 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 Global Business segment.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Snow Revitalization 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Snow Revitalization 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 Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Snow Revitalization to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Global Business industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Snow Revitalization 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. Snow Revitalization 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Snow Revitalization can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Snow Revitalization 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 Snow Revitalization to increase its market reach. Snow Revitalization 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Snow Revitalization 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, Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Snow Revitalization can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Global Business 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Snow Revitalization 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 Snow Revitalization to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Snow Revitalization in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Buying journey improvements
– Snow Revitalization can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts 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.
Threats Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Snow Revitalization has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Snow Revitalization needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Global Business 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts, Snow Revitalization may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Global Business .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Snow Revitalization is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Snow Revitalization demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Regulatory challenges
– Snow Revitalization 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 Global Business industry regulations.
Increasing wage structure of Snow Revitalization
– 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 Snow Revitalization.
Environmental challenges
– Snow Revitalization 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. Snow Revitalization can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Snow Revitalization 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 Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Snow Revitalization with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Snow Revitalization 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 Snow Revitalization business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Snow Revitalization in the Global Business industry. The Global Business 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. Snow Revitalization 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts 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 Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts 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 Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts 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 Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts 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 Snow Brand Milk Products (B): Reform and Revitalization Efforts 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 Snow Revitalization needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.