Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes
George Hausman, co-founder and CEO of Pleasanton, California-based Refresh Organics (fictional), was proud of the business he had built over the past 15 years. Along with a minority partner, Hausman had started Refresh as a distributor of organic produce sourced throughout California. The business had grown steadily, if not explosively, and was now a distributor for organic farms throughout the United States. Refresh's distribution revenues were on track to hit $40 million this year. Refresh Organics also has a lucrative juice business. As the business grows, Hausman wonders if and how he ought to expand his ad hoc board of family and friends into a "real" board (vignette 1). He also wonders whom to add and whether the group of ten he has assembled is 'right' (vignette 2). Finally, Hausman has an opportunity to learn some best practices around how to deliver bad news to the board (vignette 3).
Swot Analysis of "Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes" written by Arar Han, Mike Child, Jeff Chambers includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hausman Refresh facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurial management and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hausman Refresh, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hausman Refresh 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 Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hausman Refresh
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 Hausman Refresh
Strengths Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hausman Refresh in Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Hausman Refresh 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 Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Hausman Refresh
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Hausman Refresh does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Hausman Refresh has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Hausman Refresh to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Hausman Refresh to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Hausman Refresh 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 Arar Han, Mike Child, Jeff Chambers 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Hausman Refresh 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Hausman Refresh is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Hausman Refresh 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 Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Hausman Refresh in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Hausman Refresh has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Hausman Refresh 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Hausman Refresh in the sector have low bargaining power. Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Hausman Refresh to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Hausman Refresh is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes 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.
Weaknesses Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Hausman Refresh products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Hausman Refresh needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes, it seems that the employees of Hausman Refresh 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes 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 Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Hausman Refresh is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes, is just above the industry average. Hausman Refresh 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Hausman Refresh, firm in the HBR case study Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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 Hausman Refresh supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Hausman Refresh vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Hausman Refresh is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Hausman Refresh 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 - Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Hausman Refresh 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Arar Han, Mike Child, Jeff Chambers suggests that, Hausman Refresh 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 Hausman Refresh 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.
Opportunities Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes | 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 Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Hausman Refresh 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Hausman Refresh has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Hausman Refresh to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes case study. Hausman Refresh can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Hausman Refresh 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 Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Hausman Refresh to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Hausman Refresh can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Hausman Refresh operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Hausman Refresh 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Hausman Refresh can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Hausman Refresh 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Hausman Refresh 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Hausman Refresh can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Hausman Refresh can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Hausman Refresh 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.
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 Hausman Refresh 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Hausman Refresh can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes 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.
Threats Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes 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. Hausman Refresh 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 Hausman Refresh is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Hausman Refresh business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Hausman Refresh 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 Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes .
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 Hausman Refresh in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Hausman Refresh can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Hausman Refresh
– 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 Hausman Refresh.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Hausman Refresh with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Hausman Refresh 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Hausman Refresh has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Hausman Refresh 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.
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 Hausman Refresh.
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. Hausman Refresh needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes 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 Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes 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 Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes 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 Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes 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 Refresh Organics Board of Directors: Three Vignettes 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 Hausman Refresh needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
