Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over
Describes Douglas Daft's first quarter as chairman and CEO of The Coca-Cola Co. Highlights actions taken to resolve issues that arose under M. Douglas Ivester's 26-month term.
Authors :: Michael D. Watkins, Carin-Isabel Knoop, Cate Reavis
Swot Analysis of "Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over" written by Michael D. Watkins, Carin-Isabel Knoop, Cate Reavis includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Douglas Coca facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Managing people, Organizational culture and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Douglas Coca, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Douglas Coca 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 Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Douglas Coca
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 Douglas Coca
Strengths Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Douglas Coca in Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Douglas Coca is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Douglas Coca 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 Douglas Coca is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Douglas Coca is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Douglas Coca 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 recruit top talent
– Douglas Coca is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Douglas Coca has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over 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.
Organizational Resilience of Douglas Coca
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Douglas Coca does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Douglas Coca 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 Leadership & Managing People field
– Douglas Coca 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 Douglas Coca in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Douglas Coca 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 Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Douglas Coca has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Douglas Coca to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over 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 Douglas Coca has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Douglas Coca is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Douglas Coca 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over, is just above the industry average. Douglas Coca 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Douglas Coca is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Douglas Coca needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Douglas Coca to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Douglas Coca 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. Douglas Coca 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Douglas Coca 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over, it seems that the employees of Douglas Coca 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Michael D. Watkins, Carin-Isabel Knoop, Cate Reavis suggests that, Douglas Coca 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Douglas Coca 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over HBR case study mentions - Douglas Coca 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.
Opportunities Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over | 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 Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Douglas Coca 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 Douglas Coca to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Douglas Coca to increase its market reach. Douglas Coca will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Manufacturing automation
– Douglas Coca 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Douglas Coca in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Douglas Coca has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Douglas Coca to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over case study. Douglas Coca can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Douglas Coca can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Douglas Coca can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Developing new processes and practices
– Douglas Coca 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Douglas Coca 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, Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Douglas Coca 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, Douglas Coca 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Douglas Coca can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Douglas Coca operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Douglas Coca can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Douglas Coca 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.
Threats Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Douglas Coca 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 Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over .
Increasing wage structure of Douglas Coca
– 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 Douglas Coca.
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. Douglas Coca 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.
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.
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.
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. Douglas Coca can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Douglas Coca.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Douglas Coca 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.
Environmental challenges
– Douglas Coca 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. Douglas Coca can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Douglas Coca in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over, Douglas Coca 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 .
Regulatory challenges
– Douglas Coca 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Douglas Coca is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over 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 Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over 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 Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over 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 Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over 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 Coca-Cola Co. (B): Douglas Daft Takes Over 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 Douglas Coca needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
