Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B)
After assuming the position of CEO of Pepsi-Cola North America (PCNA), Gary Rodkin faces organizational problems within PCNA and external friction between PCNA and its largest bottler, the Pepsi Bottling Group. In addition to the challenge of organizational alignment, this case also provides an opportunity to examine effective leadership, reorganization, and brand management in the context of the beverage industry.
Authors :: David A. Thomas, Gina M. Carioggia, Ayesha Kanji
Swot Analysis of "Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B)" written by David A. Thomas, Gina M. Carioggia, Ayesha Kanji includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Pcna Pepsi facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Organizational culture, Organizational structure, Reorganization, Succession planning and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Pcna Pepsi, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Pcna Pepsi 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 Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Pcna Pepsi
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 Pcna Pepsi
Strengths Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Pcna Pepsi in Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Pcna Pepsi in the sector have low bargaining power. Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Pcna Pepsi to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Pcna Pepsi has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Pcna Pepsi is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Pcna Pepsi is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Pcna Pepsi has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Pcna Pepsi 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Pcna Pepsi 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Pcna Pepsi 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 Pcna Pepsi in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Pcna Pepsi 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 Pcna Pepsi is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Pcna Pepsi in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Pcna Pepsi 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 David A. Thomas, Gina M. Carioggia, Ayesha Kanji 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Pcna Pepsi to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Pcna Pepsi to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Pcna Pepsi has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Pcna Pepsi to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Pcna Pepsi 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B), is just above the industry average. Pcna Pepsi 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Pcna Pepsi is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Pcna Pepsi 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. Pcna Pepsi 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, David A. Thomas, Gina M. Carioggia, Ayesha Kanji suggests that, Pcna Pepsi is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (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 Pcna Pepsi has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Pcna Pepsi 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Pcna Pepsi is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Pcna Pepsi needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Pcna Pepsi to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Pcna Pepsi 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Pcna Pepsi products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Pcna Pepsi needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B), it seems that the employees of Pcna Pepsi 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.
Opportunities Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (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 Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Pcna Pepsi 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Pcna Pepsi 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 Pcna Pepsi to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Pcna Pepsi 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Pcna Pepsi can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Pcna Pepsi operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Pcna Pepsi 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Pcna Pepsi can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Pcna Pepsi 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 Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Pcna Pepsi to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Pcna Pepsi 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, Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (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.
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. Pcna Pepsi 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. Pcna Pepsi 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Pcna Pepsi 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.
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 Pcna Pepsi in the consumer business. Now Pcna Pepsi can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Pcna Pepsi can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Pcna Pepsi 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.
Threats Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Pcna Pepsi 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Pcna Pepsi has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Pcna Pepsi 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.
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. Pcna Pepsi needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Pcna Pepsi 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. Pcna Pepsi can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Pcna Pepsi is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Pcna Pepsi 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 Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B) .
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 Pcna Pepsi business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Pcna Pepsi
– 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 Pcna Pepsi.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Pcna Pepsi with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Pcna Pepsi 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (B), Pcna Pepsi 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 Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (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 Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (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 Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (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 Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (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 Gary Rodkin at Pepsi-Cola North America (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 Pcna Pepsi needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.