Swot Analysis of "mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion" written by Benoit Leleux, Emmanuel Savioz includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mysmoothie Invasion facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mysmoothie Invasion, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mysmoothie Invasion 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 mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mysmoothie Invasion
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Mysmoothie Invasion
Strengths mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mysmoothie Invasion in mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Mysmoothie Invasion is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Mysmoothie Invasion in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Mysmoothie Invasion
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Mysmoothie Invasion does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mysmoothie Invasion to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mysmoothie Invasion to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mysmoothie Invasion 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 mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Mysmoothie Invasion has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Mysmoothie Invasion 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Mysmoothie Invasion has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mysmoothie Invasion 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Mysmoothie Invasion is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Mysmoothie Invasion is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Mysmoothie Invasion in the sector have low bargaining power. mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Mysmoothie Invasion to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion HBR case study mentions - Mysmoothie Invasion 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
Mysmoothie Invasion 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Mysmoothie Invasion 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Mysmoothie Invasion 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 - mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Mysmoothie Invasion products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Mysmoothie Invasion needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion, in the dynamic environment Mysmoothie Invasion has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Mysmoothie Invasion has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Mysmoothie Invasion 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Mysmoothie Invasion 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Mysmoothie Invasion 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. Mysmoothie Invasion 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Mysmoothie Invasion, firm in the HBR case study mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Mysmoothie Invasion is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion 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 mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion | 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 mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Mysmoothie Invasion 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 Mysmoothie Invasion to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mysmoothie Invasion to increase its market reach. Mysmoothie Invasion 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mysmoothie Invasion can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mysmoothie Invasion operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Mysmoothie Invasion is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Mysmoothie Invasion can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Mysmoothie Invasion has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Mysmoothie Invasion to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion case study. Mysmoothie Invasion can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Mysmoothie Invasion in the consumer business. Now Mysmoothie Invasion can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Mysmoothie Invasion can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Mysmoothie Invasion 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Mysmoothie Invasion 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 mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Mysmoothie Invasion 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 Mysmoothie Invasion 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.
Buying journey improvements
– Mysmoothie Invasion can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion 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.
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 Mysmoothie Invasion 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 mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion are -
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 Mysmoothie Invasion.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Mysmoothie Invasion 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.
Increasing wage structure of Mysmoothie Invasion
– 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 Mysmoothie Invasion.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mysmoothie Invasion 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 Mysmoothie Invasion in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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 Mysmoothie Invasion business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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.
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 Mysmoothie Invasion in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Mysmoothie Invasion 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 mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion .
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. Mysmoothie Invasion 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mysmoothie Invasion is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Mysmoothie Invasion 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion 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 mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion 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 mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion 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 mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion 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 mySmoothie: The Swedish Fruit Invasion 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 Mysmoothie Invasion needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.