Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism
This case examines the management of home and host country risk by Beiersdorf during the interwar years. It can be used both in business history courses and more generally to teach political risk management by multinational corporations. Beiersdorf, a German personal products company, expanded globally before 1914, but had its foreign factories and intellectual property expropriated during World War 1. After 1919 ceo Willy Jacobson rebuilt the international business, and sought to protect it by "cloaking" the ultimate ownership. Following the appointment of Adolf Hitler, as German Chancellor in 1933, Beiersdorf and Jacobson personally also came under attack by the anti-Semitic Nazi regime in its home country. The case can be used as a vehicle to understand the rise of both host and home country risk by companies during the interwar years, and more generally to explore the strategies which firms can follow to attempt to manage such risks.
Swot Analysis of "Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism" written by Geoffrey G. Jones, Christina Lubinski includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Beiersdorf Jacobson facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Collaboration, Entrepreneurial management, Ethics, Government, International business, Risk management, Strategy execution and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, 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, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Beiersdorf Jacobson, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Beiersdorf Jacobson 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 Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Beiersdorf Jacobson
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 Beiersdorf Jacobson
Strengths Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Beiersdorf Jacobson in Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Beiersdorf Jacobson 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Beiersdorf Jacobson is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Beiersdorf Jacobson in the sector have low bargaining power. Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Beiersdorf Jacobson to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Beiersdorf Jacobson has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Beiersdorf Jacobson 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
– Beiersdorf Jacobson 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 Geoffrey G. Jones, Christina Lubinski 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.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Beiersdorf Jacobson digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Beiersdorf Jacobson 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 Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism 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
– Beiersdorf Jacobson has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism 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
– Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Beiersdorf Jacobson to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Beiersdorf Jacobson to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Beiersdorf Jacobson is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Beiersdorf Jacobson is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Beiersdorf Jacobson in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Beiersdorf Jacobson is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism 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 Beiersdorf Jacobson has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism 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 Beiersdorf Jacobson 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Beiersdorf Jacobson is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Beiersdorf Jacobson needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Beiersdorf Jacobson to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Beiersdorf Jacobson is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism HBR case study mentions - Beiersdorf Jacobson takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Beiersdorf Jacobson 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Beiersdorf Jacobson 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 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 Beiersdorf Jacobson supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Beiersdorf Jacobson vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Beiersdorf Jacobson has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Beiersdorf Jacobson even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Beiersdorf Jacobson 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 - Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism, in the dynamic environment Beiersdorf Jacobson has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Beiersdorf Jacobson has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism | 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 Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Beiersdorf Jacobson 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Beiersdorf Jacobson 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 Beiersdorf Jacobson 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Beiersdorf Jacobson can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Beiersdorf Jacobson in the consumer business. Now Beiersdorf Jacobson can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Beiersdorf Jacobson can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Beiersdorf Jacobson 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Beiersdorf Jacobson can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Beiersdorf Jacobson operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Beiersdorf Jacobson 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 Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Beiersdorf Jacobson to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Beiersdorf Jacobson has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Beiersdorf Jacobson to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism case study. Beiersdorf Jacobson can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Beiersdorf Jacobson 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Beiersdorf Jacobson 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.
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. Beiersdorf Jacobson can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Beiersdorf Jacobson 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Beiersdorf Jacobson 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 Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism .
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Beiersdorf Jacobson is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism, Beiersdorf Jacobson 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 .
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. Beiersdorf Jacobson can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Beiersdorf Jacobson business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Beiersdorf Jacobson.
Increasing wage structure of Beiersdorf Jacobson
– 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 Beiersdorf Jacobson.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Beiersdorf Jacobson 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.
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. Beiersdorf Jacobson 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Beiersdorf Jacobson 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism 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 Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism 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 Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism 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 Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism 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 Willy Jacobsohn and Beiersdorf: Managing Expropriation and Anti-Semitism 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 Beiersdorf Jacobson needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.