Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming
Presents the history and evolution of the EU Common Agricultural Policy, from early price supports to the 2003 decision to "decouple" payments to European farmers. Explores the logic behind agricultural supports, with a focus on the economic, political, and cultural context of French farming. Discusses efforts to reform the CAP in the context of the Doha Round of WTO negotiations against the backdrop of European enlargement.
Authors :: Gunnar Trumbull, Elena Corsi, Vincent Dessain
Swot Analysis of "Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming" written by Gunnar Trumbull, Elena Corsi, Vincent Dessain includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Agricultural Farming facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Policy and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Agricultural Farming, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Agricultural Farming 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 Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Agricultural Farming
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 Agricultural Farming
Strengths Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Agricultural Farming in Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Agricultural Farming is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Agricultural Farming to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Agricultural Farming to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Agricultural Farming digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Agricultural Farming 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Agricultural Farming in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Agricultural Farming is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Agricultural Farming 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 Agricultural Farming in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Agricultural Farming
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Agricultural Farming does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Agricultural Farming is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Agricultural Farming 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 Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Agricultural Farming has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming 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.
Analytics focus
– Agricultural Farming 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 Gunnar Trumbull, Elena Corsi, Vincent Dessain 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.
Weaknesses Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming HBR case study mentions - Agricultural Farming 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming, is just above the industry average. Agricultural Farming 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Gunnar Trumbull, Elena Corsi, Vincent Dessain suggests that, Agricultural Farming 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Agricultural Farming 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming 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 Agricultural Farming 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Agricultural Farming 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming, 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming 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 Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Agricultural Farming is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Agricultural Farming 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Agricultural Farming 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 Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming, it seems that the employees of Agricultural Farming 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 Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming | 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 Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming are -
Buying journey improvements
– Agricultural Farming can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming 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.
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. Agricultural Farming can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Agricultural Farming 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, Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– Agricultural Farming 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Agricultural Farming 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Agricultural Farming to increase its market reach. Agricultural Farming 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Agricultural Farming 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 Agricultural Farming has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Agricultural Farming to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming case study. Agricultural Farming can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Agricultural Farming 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 Agricultural Farming to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Agricultural Farming 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.
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. Agricultural Farming 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. Agricultural Farming 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, Agricultural Farming can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Agricultural Farming operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
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 Agricultural Farming 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.
Threats Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Agricultural Farming 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. Agricultural Farming 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Agricultural Farming 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Agricultural Farming 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 Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming .
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Agricultural Farming 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Agricultural Farming 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 Agricultural Farming business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Agricultural Farming needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Agricultural Farming 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. Agricultural Farming can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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 Agricultural Farming 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 Agricultural Farming.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming 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 Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming 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 Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming 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 Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming 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 Common Agricultural Policy and the Future of French Farming 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 Agricultural Farming needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
