Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl
Champion's forest products division owns timberlands, sawmills, and plywood mills in the Pacific Northwest. The listing of the northern spotted owl as an endangered species, and restrictions on exports of logs from state-owned lands, have disrupted the stumpage, log and product markets in which Champion competes. Tag Edwards, executive V.P. for forest products, needs to decide how to respond to these regulatory changes, using economic data and political information.
Swot Analysis of "Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl" written by Forest Reinhardt includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Owl Spotted facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Decision making, Economics, Government, Marketing, Risk management, Sustainability and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Owl Spotted, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Owl Spotted 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 Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Owl Spotted
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 Owl Spotted
Strengths Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Owl Spotted in Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Owl Spotted has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Owl Spotted to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Owl Spotted 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 Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Owl Spotted
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Owl Spotted does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Owl Spotted is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Owl Spotted in the sector have low bargaining power. Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Owl Spotted to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Owl Spotted to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Owl Spotted to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl 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.
Training and development
– Owl Spotted has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Owl Spotted is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Owl Spotted 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Owl Spotted 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.
Analytics focus
– Owl Spotted 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 Forest Reinhardt 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 Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Owl Spotted, firm in the HBR case study Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Owl Spotted 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 - Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Forest Reinhardt suggests that, Owl Spotted 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Owl Spotted 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl, in the dynamic environment Owl Spotted has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Owl Spotted has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Owl Spotted 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl, is just above the industry average. Owl Spotted 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl 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 Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Owl Spotted is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Owl Spotted 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Owl Spotted 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Owl Spotted is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl | 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 Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl are -
Buying journey improvements
– Owl Spotted can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl 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, Owl Spotted is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Owl Spotted 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Owl Spotted 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 Owl Spotted to increase its market reach. Owl Spotted 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.
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. Owl Spotted can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Owl Spotted 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Owl Spotted 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, Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl, 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
– Owl Spotted 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Owl Spotted 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 Owl Spotted to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Owl Spotted 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Owl Spotted 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.
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 Owl Spotted in the consumer business. Now Owl Spotted can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl 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. Owl Spotted 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.
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. Owl Spotted can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Owl Spotted 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Owl Spotted 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.
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 Owl Spotted business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Owl Spotted is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl, Owl Spotted 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 .
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.
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. Owl Spotted needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Owl Spotted 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Owl Spotted 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.
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 wage structure of Owl Spotted
– 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 Owl Spotted.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl 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 Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl 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 Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl 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 Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl 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 Champion International Corp.: Timber, Trade, and the Northern Spotted Owl 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 Owl Spotted needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.