Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR)
This case study focuses on Back to the Roots (BTTR), a company started by two founders while they were still students at the University of California at Berkeley. It takes place in 2014, five years after Alejandro ""Alex"" Velez and Nikhil Arora formed a partnership based on their mutual interest in creating economic value and social impact through commercial solutions. Over this period, BTTR has evolved from a test bed of youthful inquisitiveness to an award-winning and recognizable brand. Since inception, BTTR's management has either modified or significantly pivoted the company's business design at least five times, with their most recent success stemming from a suite of Sustainable Do-it-Yourself Products. Having just raised their first round of professional investment capital, BTTR is at an inflection point, preparing to enter BTTR into the very competitive cereal CPG category. This multi-faceted case has a broad set of applications across entrepreneurship and strategy, with a particularly unique view of the intersection between commercial solutions and social purpose. It demonstrates the non-linear path that most start-ups take in finding the value propositions and offerings that resonate with their intended stakeholders. While one of the primary goals of developing this case study was to clarify how to use a business planning tool like the Impact Canvas (see socialblueprint.org or other similar business model canvases), this narrative can also catalyze a more general discussion about best practices in primary and secondary data gathering and how to prioritize information to support strategic decisions. Additionally, this case offers a unique illustration of bootstrapping a company from a college setting to an investable and scalable company.
Swot Analysis of "Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR)" written by Jorge Calderon, Nishant Bagadia includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bttr Roots facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Social enterprise, Sustainability and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions, 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%,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bttr Roots, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bttr Roots 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 Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bttr Roots
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 Bttr Roots
Strengths Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bttr Roots in Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Bttr Roots 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 Bttr Roots is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Bttr Roots in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Bttr Roots 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 Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bttr Roots to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bttr Roots to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Bttr Roots
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bttr Roots does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Bttr Roots 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 Jorge Calderon, Nishant Bagadia 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Bttr Roots is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Bttr Roots has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bttr Roots 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Bttr Roots 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Training and development
– Bttr Roots has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) 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.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bttr Roots digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bttr Roots 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.
Weaknesses Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Bttr Roots 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Bttr Roots is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Bttr Roots needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bttr Roots to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) 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 Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bttr Roots is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR), 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR), it seems that the employees of Bttr Roots 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Bttr Roots has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) 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 Bttr Roots 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR), is just above the industry average. Bttr Roots 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bttr Roots is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Bttr Roots, firm in the HBR case study Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Bttr Roots 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.
Opportunities Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) | 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 Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) are -
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 Bttr Roots 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bttr Roots 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bttr Roots 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, Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bttr Roots 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Bttr Roots 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Bttr Roots 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Bttr Roots is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Bttr Roots can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Bttr Roots 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Bttr Roots 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 Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bttr Roots to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Bttr Roots 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Bttr Roots 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bttr Roots has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bttr Roots to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) case study. Bttr Roots can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bttr Roots with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Bttr Roots 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, Bttr Roots 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 Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) .
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. Bttr Roots needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Bttr Roots has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bttr Roots 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.
Increasing wage structure of Bttr Roots
– 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 Bttr Roots.
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.
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 Bttr Roots 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Bttr Roots 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bttr Roots 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bttr Roots 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bttr Roots is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) 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 Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) 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 Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) 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 Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) 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 Back to the Roots Ventures (BTTR) 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 Bttr Roots needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
