Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming
"Duxton Asset Management, a specialist agro-business investor, is evaluating an investment in rice farming in Tanzania, Africa. Duxton has a business strategy of investing in operating farmland assets, many of which are in developing or even frontier markets. The case discusses the complexities of investing in an atypical multidimensional asset. "
Authors :: Anindita Sharma, Claudia Zeisberger, Michael Prahl
Swot Analysis of "Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming" written by Anindita Sharma, Claudia Zeisberger, Michael Prahl includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Duxton Rice facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Duxton Rice, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Duxton Rice 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 Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Duxton Rice
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 Duxton Rice
Strengths Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Duxton Rice in Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Duxton Rice 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 Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Duxton Rice is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Duxton Rice in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Duxton Rice has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Duxton Rice to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Duxton Rice 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.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Duxton Rice 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 Duxton Rice in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Duxton Rice 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 Duxton Rice is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Duxton Rice 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 Anindita Sharma, Claudia Zeisberger, Michael Prahl 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.
Organizational Resilience of Duxton Rice
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Duxton Rice does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Duxton Rice has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Duxton Rice has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Duxton Rice 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Duxton Rice is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Anindita Sharma, Claudia Zeisberger, Michael Prahl suggests that, Duxton Rice is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming 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 Duxton Rice has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Duxton Rice 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Duxton Rice, firm in the HBR case study Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming 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 Duxton Rice supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Duxton Rice vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Duxton Rice products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Duxton Rice needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming HBR case study mentions - Duxton Rice 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming 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 Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Duxton Rice is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Duxton Rice 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Duxton Rice 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming, is just above the industry average. Duxton Rice 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.
Opportunities Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming | 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 Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Duxton Rice is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Duxton Rice has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Duxton Rice to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming case study. Duxton Rice 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 Duxton Rice 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 Duxton Rice 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 Duxton Rice 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Duxton Rice 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 Duxton Rice to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Duxton Rice can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Duxton Rice 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Duxton Rice to increase its market reach. Duxton Rice 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Duxton Rice 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 Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Duxton Rice 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, Duxton Rice can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Duxton Rice operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Duxton Rice can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Duxton Rice can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming 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 Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Duxton Rice is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Duxton Rice 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
– Duxton Rice 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Duxton Rice 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.
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. Duxton Rice needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Duxton Rice needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Duxton Rice can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming, Duxton Rice 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 .
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.
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. Duxton Rice can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Duxton Rice 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 wage structure of Duxton Rice
– 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 Duxton Rice.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Duxton Rice has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Duxton Rice 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Duxton Rice 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 Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming 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 Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming 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 Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming 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 Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming 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 Rice from Africa for Africa: Duxton Asset Management and its Investment in Tanzanian Rice Farming 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 Duxton Rice needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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