Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady
This case could be taught in courses on entrepreneurship and marketing. It follows a born entrepreneur and former successful McDonald's franchisee, who, guided by the motto No Is Not an Option, grows her business into world's fastest automated bakery. In order to attract and retain a skilled workforce, her company provided the best benefits the company could buy and paid for the training its staff needed to succeed on the job, which, coupled with a policy to promote from within, increased employee loyalty. By 2008, she is ready to take the next step and "build bakeries around the world for McDonald's."
Swot Analysis of "Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady" written by Edward D. Hess, Gosia Glinska includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mcdonald's Bun facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization,
technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mcdonald's Bun, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mcdonald's Bun 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 Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mcdonald's Bun
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 Mcdonald's Bun
Strengths Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mcdonald's Bun in Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Mcdonald's Bun is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Mcdonald's Bun 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.
Analytics focus
– Mcdonald's Bun 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 Edward D. Hess, Gosia Glinska 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Mcdonald's Bun is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mcdonald's Bun to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mcdonald's Bun to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Mcdonald's Bun has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Mcdonald's Bun to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Mcdonald's Bun has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Mcdonald's Bun is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady 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.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Mcdonald's Bun digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Mcdonald's Bun 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Mcdonald's Bun is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Mcdonald's Bun in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Mcdonald's Bun 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 - Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady 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, Edward D. Hess, Gosia Glinska suggests that, Mcdonald's Bun 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady 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 Mcdonald's Bun 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady, is just above the industry average. Mcdonald's Bun 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Mcdonald's Bun is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Mcdonald's Bun needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Mcdonald's Bun to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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 Mcdonald's Bun supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Mcdonald's Bun vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Mcdonald's Bun 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Mcdonald's Bun 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady 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 Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Mcdonald's Bun is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Mcdonald's Bun 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.
Opportunities Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady | 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 Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady are -
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. Mcdonald's Bun can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Mcdonald's Bun in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Mcdonald's Bun 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Mcdonald's Bun to increase its market reach. Mcdonald's Bun 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Mcdonald's Bun 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Mcdonald's Bun 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. Mcdonald's Bun 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mcdonald's Bun 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Mcdonald's Bun is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Mcdonald's Bun 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 Mcdonald's Bun has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Mcdonald's Bun to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady case study. Mcdonald's Bun can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Mcdonald's Bun 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mcdonald's Bun can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mcdonald's Bun operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Mcdonald's Bun can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Threats Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady are -
Environmental challenges
– Mcdonald's Bun 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. Mcdonald's Bun can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Mcdonald's Bun can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Mcdonald's Bun 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.
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. Mcdonald's Bun needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Mcdonald's Bun 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.
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. Mcdonald's Bun 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.
Increasing wage structure of Mcdonald's Bun
– 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 Mcdonald's Bun.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Mcdonald's Bun has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mcdonald's Bun needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Mcdonald's Bun 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mcdonald's Bun is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mcdonald's Bun 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.
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 Mcdonald's Bun.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady 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 Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady 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 Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady 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 Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady 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 Cordia Harrington: The Rise of the Bun Lady 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 Mcdonald's Bun needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
