Swot Analysis of "General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B)" written by J. Robert Mitchell, Ken Mark includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that W14003 Mills facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Human resource management, Innovation, Marketing, Organizational culture and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B) casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
increasing commodity prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the W14003 Mills, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which W14003 Mills 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 General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of W14003 Mills
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 W14003 Mills
Strengths General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of W14003 Mills in General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– W14003 Mills has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled W14003 Mills to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that W14003 Mills 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
– General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled W14003 Mills to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped W14003 Mills to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– W14003 Mills 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 General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- W14003 Mills 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 W14003 Mills is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– W14003 Mills 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 J. Robert Mitchell, Ken Mark 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.
Organizational Resilience of W14003 Mills
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that W14003 Mills does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– W14003 Mills is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (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 General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of W14003 Mills in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Innovation driven organization
– W14003 Mills is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– W14003 Mills has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (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.
Weaknesses General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B) are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, J. Robert Mitchell, Ken Mark suggests that, W14003 Mills 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at W14003 Mills has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (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 W14003 Mills 's lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, W14003 Mills is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of W14003 Mills, firm in the HBR case study General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (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 W14003 Mills has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B), in the dynamic environment W14003 Mills has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. W14003 Mills has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, W14003 Mills 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.
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 W14003 Mills supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left W14003 Mills vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of W14003 Mills is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. W14003 Mills needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help W14003 Mills to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of W14003 Mills products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, W14003 Mills needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (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 General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B) are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects W14003 Mills can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– W14003 Mills 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 W14003 Mills 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.
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. W14003 Mills can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– W14003 Mills 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for W14003 Mills 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 W14003 Mills to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 W14003 Mills to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Manufacturing automation
– W14003 Mills 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at W14003 Mills 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.
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 W14003 Mills in the consumer business. Now W14003 Mills can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, W14003 Mills is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B) 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help W14003 Mills to increase its market reach. W14003 Mills 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, W14003 Mills 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, General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (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.
Threats General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B) are -
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. W14003 Mills 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on W14003 Mills 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.
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 W14003 Mills.
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 W14003 Mills 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. W14003 Mills can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B), W14003 Mills 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 .
Increasing wage structure of W14003 Mills
– 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 W14003 Mills.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that W14003 Mills is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– W14003 Mills 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.
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.
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. W14003 Mills needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, W14003 Mills 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 General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (B) .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for W14003 Mills 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (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 General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (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 General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (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 General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (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 General Mills Canada: Building a Culture of Innovation (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 W14003 Mills needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
