Splash: Ready to Make Waves? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Splash: Ready to Make Waves?
Splash Corporation has been dubbed "the next Unilever"--not bad for a consumer packaged goods company that was started in a garage in the Philippines no more than 20 years ago. As one of the largest consumer packaged goods companies in the Philippines, it is now considering international expansion options. Should the company tackle the nearby markets of Indonesia and Malaysia, or should it look farther afield at the lucrative markets of Europe and North America? The company is not short of ambition but resources are scarce.
Authors :: Hari Bapuji, Niraj Dawar, Nigel Goodwin
Swot Analysis of "Splash: Ready to Make Waves?" written by Hari Bapuji, Niraj Dawar, Nigel Goodwin includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Splash Philippines facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Splash: Ready to Make Waves? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Sales and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Splash: Ready to Make Waves? casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Splash: Ready to Make Waves?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Splash: Ready to Make Waves? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Splash Philippines, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Splash Philippines 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 Splash: Ready to Make Waves? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Splash: Ready to Make Waves? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Splash Philippines
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 Splash Philippines
Strengths Splash: Ready to Make Waves? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Splash Philippines in Splash: Ready to Make Waves? Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Splash Philippines 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.
Learning organization
- Splash Philippines 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 Splash Philippines is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Splash: Ready to Make Waves? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Splash Philippines is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Splash: Ready to Make Waves? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Splash Philippines
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Splash Philippines does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Splash Philippines in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Splash Philippines digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Splash Philippines 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Splash Philippines is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Splash Philippines has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Splash Philippines to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Splash Philippines has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Splash: Ready to Make Waves? 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Splash Philippines is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Splash: Ready to Make Waves? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Splash Philippines in the sector have low bargaining power. Splash: Ready to Make Waves? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Splash Philippines to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Splash Philippines has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Splash Philippines 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.
Weaknesses Splash: Ready to Make Waves? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Splash: Ready to Make Waves? are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Splash: Ready to Make Waves? 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 Splash: Ready to Make Waves? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Splash Philippines is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Splash Philippines supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Splash: Ready to Make Waves?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Splash Philippines vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Splash Philippines is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Splash: Ready to Make Waves? 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Splash: Ready to Make Waves? HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Splash Philippines has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Splash: Ready to Make Waves? HBR case study mentions - Splash Philippines 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Splash Philippines is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Splash Philippines needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Splash Philippines to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Splash Philippines 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Splash Philippines 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. Splash Philippines 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Splash: Ready to Make Waves?, 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Splash Philippines 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Splash: Ready to Make Waves?, it seems that the employees of Splash Philippines 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.
Opportunities Splash: Ready to Make Waves? | 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 Splash: Ready to Make Waves? are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Splash Philippines can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Splash Philippines 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, Splash: Ready to Make Waves?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Splash Philippines can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Splash Philippines 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. Splash Philippines 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Splash Philippines 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 Splash Philippines to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Splash Philippines has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Splash Philippines to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Splash: Ready to Make Waves? case study. Splash Philippines can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Splash Philippines is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Splash: Ready to Make Waves? 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, Splash Philippines can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Splash Philippines operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Splash Philippines 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Splash Philippines 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Splash Philippines can develop new processes and procedures in Global Business 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.
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 Splash Philippines in the consumer business. Now Splash Philippines can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Splash Philippines 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.
Threats Splash: Ready to Make Waves? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Splash: Ready to Make Waves? are -
Environmental challenges
– Splash Philippines 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. Splash Philippines can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Splash Philippines has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Splash Philippines 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 Splash: Ready to Make Waves?, Splash Philippines 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 .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Splash Philippines 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.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Splash Philippines in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Splash Philippines is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Splash Philippines can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Splash Philippines 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 Splash: Ready to Make Waves? .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Splash Philippines 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Splash Philippines 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.
Increasing wage structure of Splash Philippines
– 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 Splash Philippines.
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. Splash Philippines 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Splash Philippines 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Splash: Ready to Make Waves? 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 Splash: Ready to Make Waves? 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 Splash: Ready to Make Waves? 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 Splash: Ready to Make Waves? 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 Splash: Ready to Make Waves? 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 Splash Philippines needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
