Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (A) 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 (A)
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 (A)" 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 (A) 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 (A) casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (A)
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 (A) 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 (A) 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 (A) 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 (A) | 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 (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
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 (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Maryland Virginia 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 Maryland Virginia is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Maryland Virginia has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (A) 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.
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.
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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Maryland Virginia 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 Maryland Virginia in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Maryland Virginia has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Maryland Virginia 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.
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 (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
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 (A) 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.
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.
Analytics focus
– Maryland Virginia 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 Sarah Goldthwait Shoemaker, Enver Yucesan 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.
Weaknesses Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (A) | 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 (A) are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Maryland Virginia 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 Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (A) HBR case study mentions - Maryland Virginia 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.
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 (A), 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (A), is just above the industry average. Maryland Virginia 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 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 (A) 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.
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.
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 (A), 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Sarah Goldthwait Shoemaker, Enver Yucesan suggests that, Maryland Virginia 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Maryland Virginia 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. Maryland Virginia 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (A) 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.
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.
Opportunities Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (A) | 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 (A) are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Maryland Virginia is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (A) 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.
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 (A) - 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.
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.
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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Maryland Virginia to increase its market reach. Maryland Virginia 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.
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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Maryland Virginia 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.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Maryland Virginia can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 (A) case study. Maryland Virginia can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Maryland Virginia can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (A) 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.
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.
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. Maryland Virginia 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. Maryland Virginia 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.
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.
Threats Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (A) 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 (A) are -
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 (A) .
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 (A), 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 .
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Maryland Virginia has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Maryland Virginia 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.
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.
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.
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. Maryland Virginia 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Maryland Virginia 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.
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.
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 Maryland Virginia.
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.
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. Maryland Virginia needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Maryland Virginia 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Managing Risk to Ensure Business Continuity at Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Cooperative (A) 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 (A) 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 (A) 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 (A) 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 (A) 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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