Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B)
The case study focuses on risk management practices at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative, in particular the organization's crisis preparedness to ensure business continuity. The case provides detailed information on the dairy industry as well as the specific operations of Maryland & Virginia. It can be included in a risk management discussion within the context of supply chain management for an MBA or executive audience.
Authors :: Sarah Goldthwait Shoemaker, Enver Yucesan
Swot Analysis of "Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B)" written by Sarah Goldthwait Shoemaker, Enver Yucesan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Maryland Virginia facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Risk management and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Maryland Virginia, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Maryland Virginia 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 Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Maryland Virginia
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 Maryland Virginia
Strengths Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Maryland Virginia in Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Maryland Virginia is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) 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 Maryland Virginia
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Maryland Virginia does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Maryland Virginia 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 Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Maryland Virginia 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Maryland Virginia to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Maryland Virginia to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Maryland Virginia in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– Maryland Virginia is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Maryland Virginia in the sector have low bargaining power. Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Maryland Virginia to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Maryland Virginia has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Maryland Virginia to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Maryland Virginia is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Maryland Virginia digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Maryland Virginia has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Weaknesses Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B), it seems that the employees of Maryland Virginia 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Maryland Virginia, firm in the HBR case study Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) 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 Maryland Virginia 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) 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 Maryland Virginia 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, Maryland Virginia is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Maryland Virginia 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 - Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Maryland Virginia 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Maryland Virginia is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Maryland Virginia needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Maryland Virginia to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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 Maryland Virginia supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Maryland Virginia vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B), in the dynamic environment Maryland Virginia has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Maryland Virginia has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Maryland Virginia 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.
Opportunities Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) | 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 Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Maryland Virginia 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Maryland Virginia 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Maryland Virginia 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Maryland Virginia 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, Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Maryland Virginia 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Maryland Virginia 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 Maryland Virginia to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Maryland Virginia can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Maryland Virginia operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Maryland Virginia 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Maryland Virginia 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.
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 Maryland Virginia 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.
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 Maryland Virginia in the consumer business. Now Maryland Virginia can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Maryland Virginia has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Maryland Virginia to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) case study. Maryland Virginia can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Maryland Virginia 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 Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Maryland Virginia to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) are -
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. Maryland Virginia can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Maryland Virginia 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. Maryland Virginia 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 Maryland Virginia 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.
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 wage structure of Maryland Virginia
– 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 Maryland Virginia.
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 Maryland Virginia in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Maryland Virginia with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Maryland Virginia 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 Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B), Maryland Virginia 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 .
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 Maryland Virginia business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Maryland Virginia 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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Maryland Virginia 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) 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 Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) 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 Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) 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 Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) 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 Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (B) 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 Maryland Virginia needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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