Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory
Direct foreign investment in Russia was only 1% of GDP in 1999, and Russian industry was only half as productive in that year as in 1992. Not surprisingly, the prevailing opinion is that privatization has only aggravated Russia's economic problems, and that foreign firms should avoid investing in Russia for the time being. This case study argues that, on the contrary, Russian companies can be successfully integrated within a multinational organization. It shows that an Anglo-Saxon-style revolutionary change process is not always the best way to proceed in Eastern European organizations; that the commonly accepted goals of rapid change, employee empowerment and a flatter hierarchy are not necessarily appropriate in these organizations in the short-term, moreover that even the definitions of trust, strategy and leadership can differ according to cultural context. The challenge lies in understanding the complexities the lingering influence of the Soviet planned central economy - as well as the Russian culture and management systems.
Authors :: Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries, Elizabeth Florent-Treacy, Pavel Pavlovsky
Swot Analysis of "Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory" written by Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries, Elizabeth Florent-Treacy, Pavel Pavlovsky includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Russian Russia facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Mergers & acquisitions, Organizational culture and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, geopolitical disruptions, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, technology disruption,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Russian Russia, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Russian Russia 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Russian Russia
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Russian Russia
Strengths Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Russian Russia in Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Russian Russia is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Russian Russia 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Russian Russia 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Russian Russia has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Russian Russia to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Russian Russia in the sector have low bargaining power. Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Russian Russia to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Russian Russia
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Russian Russia does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Russian Russia 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Russian Russia 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 Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries, Elizabeth Florent-Treacy, Pavel Pavlovsky 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 lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Russian Russia 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 Russian Russia in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Russian Russia is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory 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.
Learning organization
- Russian Russia 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 Russian Russia is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Russian Russia 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.
Weaknesses Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory, is just above the industry average. Russian Russia 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries, Elizabeth Florent-Treacy, Pavel Pavlovsky suggests that, Russian Russia 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Russian Russia is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Russian Russia needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Russian Russia to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Russian Russia 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Russian Russia 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Russian Russia 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory, in the dynamic environment Russian Russia has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Russian Russia has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Russian Russia, firm in the HBR case study Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Lack of clear differentiation of Russian Russia products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Russian Russia needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory 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 Russian Russia has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Russian Russia 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 - Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory | 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Russian Russia 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Russian Russia can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Russian Russia can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Russian Russia operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Russian Russia 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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Russian Russia 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, Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Russian Russia 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Russian Russia is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory 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
– Russian Russia can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory 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
– Russian Russia can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Russian Russia 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Russian Russia 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Russian Russia to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Russian Russia 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Russian Russia can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Russian Russia is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Russian Russia 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory .
Environmental challenges
– Russian Russia 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. Russian Russia can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Russian Russia 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Russian Russia has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Russian Russia needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.
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. Russian Russia 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Russian Russia can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Russian Russia needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Russian Russia
– 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 Russian Russia.
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 Russian Russia in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory, Russian Russia may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory 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 Russian Russia needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
