Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity
An entrepreneur is looking for business opportunities since she immigrated to London, Ontario. She has come across a franchising opportunity with Williams Coffee Pub (WCP). The promotional material for WCP indicates that annual sales for a typical restaurant can be up to $1,700,000 with a profit margin of 17.5 per cent. This business opportunity seems very attractive, however, she must do some additional investigation. The purpose of this case is for students to build a spreadsheet-based cash flow model and to use the model to perform basic sensitivity or "What if?" analysis.
Swot Analysis of "Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity" written by Gregory S. Zaric, Hui Zhang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Wcp Pub facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Wcp Pub, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Wcp Pub 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 Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Wcp Pub
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 Wcp Pub
Strengths Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Wcp Pub in Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity 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.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Wcp Pub digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Wcp Pub 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Wcp Pub 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 Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Wcp Pub is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Wcp Pub has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Wcp Pub 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.
Analytics focus
– Wcp Pub 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 Gregory S. Zaric, Hui Zhang 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Wcp Pub is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Wcp Pub to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Wcp Pub to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Wcp Pub has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity 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.
Organizational Resilience of Wcp Pub
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Wcp Pub does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Wcp Pub is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Wcp Pub is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Wcp Pub has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Wcp Pub to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Wcp Pub has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Wcp Pub supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Wcp Pub vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity, 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Gregory S. Zaric, Hui Zhang suggests that, Wcp Pub 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 Wcp Pub 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity, it seems that the employees of Wcp Pub 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity, in the dynamic environment Wcp Pub has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Wcp Pub has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Wcp Pub 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity 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 Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Wcp Pub is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Wcp Pub products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Wcp Pub needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Wcp Pub 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 Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity | 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 Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Wcp Pub is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Wcp Pub 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.
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. Wcp Pub can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Wcp Pub 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Wcp Pub 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 Wcp Pub to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Wcp Pub 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Wcp Pub 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Wcp Pub 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.
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. Wcp Pub 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. Wcp Pub 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Wcp Pub 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, Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Wcp Pub can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Wcp Pub to increase its market reach. Wcp Pub 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Wcp Pub 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 Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity are -
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.
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 Wcp Pub in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Wcp Pub.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Wcp Pub with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Wcp Pub 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Wcp Pub 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 Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity, Wcp Pub may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .
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. Wcp Pub needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Wcp Pub high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Increasing wage structure of Wcp Pub
– 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 Wcp Pub.
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 Wcp Pub business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Wcp Pub can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Wcp Pub 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity 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 Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity 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 Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity 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 Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity 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 Williams Coffee Pub: The Franchising Opportunity 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 Wcp Pub needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
