Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group
This case describes the megafarm model launched by the CP group as part of their efforts to ensure the safety and quality of their supply chain of agricultural products (particularly, eggs) in China while also promoting the welfare of Chinese farmers. This model was developed in close partnership with the local government, and received financing support from a local bank. The case asks students to discuss the potential for scaling this model across China.
Swot Analysis of "Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group" written by William C. Kirby, Nancy Hua Dai includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cp Agricultural facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group casestudy better are - – technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cp Agricultural, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cp Agricultural 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 Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cp Agricultural
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 Cp Agricultural
Strengths Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cp Agricultural in Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Cp Agricultural 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 Cp Agricultural in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cp Agricultural is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Cp Agricultural
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cp Agricultural does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Cp Agricultural 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 Cp Agricultural is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cp Agricultural 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 Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cp Agricultural is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group 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 Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Cp Agricultural 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
– Cp Agricultural is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cp Agricultural digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cp Agricultural 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.
Training and development
– Cp Agricultural has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cp Agricultural to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cp Agricultural to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Cp Agricultural 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Cp Agricultural, firm in the HBR case study Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cp Agricultural 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group, in the dynamic environment Cp Agricultural has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cp Agricultural has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group 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 Cp Agricultural 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group, is just above the industry average. Cp Agricultural 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cp Agricultural 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 - Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Cp Agricultural 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 Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group, it seems that the employees of Cp Agricultural 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cp Agricultural is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group 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 Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cp Agricultural is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group | 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 Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Cp Agricultural 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 Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cp Agricultural to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cp Agricultural 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.
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. Cp Agricultural can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cp Agricultural 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 Cp Agricultural to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Cp Agricultural can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cp Agricultural 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cp Agricultural 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cp Agricultural 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, Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Cp Agricultural is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group 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.
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 Cp Agricultural in the consumer business. Now Cp Agricultural can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cp Agricultural can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Cp Agricultural 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. Cp Agricultural 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Cp Agricultural can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cp Agricultural operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Threats Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group are -
Environmental challenges
– Cp Agricultural 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. Cp Agricultural can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cp Agricultural is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Cp Agricultural 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.
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 Cp Agricultural in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Cp Agricultural.
Increasing wage structure of Cp Agricultural
– 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 Cp Agricultural.
Regulatory challenges
– Cp Agricultural 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cp Agricultural has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cp Agricultural 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.
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 Cp Agricultural business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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. Cp Agricultural can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Cp Agricultural with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Cp Agricultural 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 Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group 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 Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group 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 Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group 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 Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group 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 Agricultural Revolution without a Land Revolution: the Megafarms of CP Group 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 Cp Agricultural needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
