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Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B)


It is 1993, and Procter & Gamble has been in Eastern Europe for more than two years. This case outlines the problems, missed opportunities, and difficulties Procter & Gamble has had in transplanting its corporate culture onto the newly liberalized economies of Eastern Europe. The students must generate alternatives for Procter & Gamble's future strategy in Eastern Europe, given the PEST environment.

Authors :: Jeffrey Gandz, Michael Smith, Maurice Smith, Asad Wali

Topics :: Global Business

Tags :: Marketing, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B)" written by Jeffrey Gandz, Michael Smith, Maurice Smith, Asad Wali includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Procter Eastern facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing and Global Business.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B)


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Procter Eastern, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Procter Eastern 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 Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Procter Eastern
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 Procter Eastern




Strengths Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Procter Eastern in Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -

Analytics focus

– Procter Eastern 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 Jeffrey Gandz, Michael Smith, Maurice Smith, Asad Wali 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Procter Eastern 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 Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Procter Eastern is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) 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 Procter Eastern

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Procter Eastern 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 Procter Eastern 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.

Strong track record of project management

– Procter Eastern is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Training and development

– Procter Eastern has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Procter Eastern 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.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Procter Eastern in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Procter Eastern in the sector have low bargaining power. Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Procter Eastern to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Procter Eastern has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Procter Eastern 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry

– Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Procter Eastern to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Procter Eastern to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.






Weaknesses Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) are -

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B), it seems that the employees of Procter Eastern 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 Procter Eastern supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Procter Eastern vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Procter Eastern 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.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jeffrey Gandz, Michael Smith, Maurice Smith, Asad Wali suggests that, Procter Eastern 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Procter Eastern 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 strategic competitive environment developments

– As Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) HBR case study mentions - Procter Eastern 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.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Procter Eastern has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Procter Eastern is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Procter Eastern needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Procter Eastern to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Procter Eastern 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.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Procter Eastern 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. Procter Eastern 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) 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 Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Procter Eastern is planning to shift buying processes online.




Opportunities Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) | 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 Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) are -

Leveraging digital technologies

– Procter Eastern 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.

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. Procter Eastern can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Procter Eastern to increase its market reach. Procter Eastern 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.

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 Procter Eastern 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Procter Eastern can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Procter Eastern has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Procter Eastern to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) case study. Procter Eastern can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Procter Eastern 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, Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Buying journey improvements

– Procter Eastern can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Procter Eastern is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) 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 Procter Eastern in the consumer business. Now Procter Eastern can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Procter Eastern 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 Procter Eastern to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Procter Eastern 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 Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Procter Eastern to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Procter Eastern 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.




Threats Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) are -

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. Procter Eastern 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.

Aging population

– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Procter Eastern with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Regulatory challenges

– Procter Eastern 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 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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Procter Eastern 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 Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) .

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. Procter Eastern needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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 Procter Eastern business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Procter Eastern 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 Procter Eastern 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.

Environmental challenges

– Procter Eastern 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. Procter Eastern can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.

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. Procter Eastern can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B), Procter Eastern 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 .




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) 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 Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) 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 Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) 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 Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) 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 Procter & Gamble in Eastern Europe (B) 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 Procter Eastern needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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