This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch
The Anheuser-Busch InBev case represents a major cross-border M&A transaction. Because the material covers a large, well-known transaction involving food and beverage companies, students can focus on both the strategic rationale behind the transaction as well as understand the various valuation issues associated with any M&A deal-including some specific to cross-border M&A, such as currency conversion of foreign sales. The material includes both student and instructor spreadsheets.
Authors :: Yiorgos Allayannis, Gerry Yemen, Mary English, Paul Voorhees
Swot Analysis of "This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch" written by Yiorgos Allayannis, Gerry Yemen, Mary English, Paul Voorhees includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Busch Anheuser facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Currency, Financial analysis, Global strategy, Joint ventures, Marketing and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Busch Anheuser, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Busch Anheuser 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 This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Busch Anheuser
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Busch Anheuser
Strengths This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Busch Anheuser in This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch 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.
Analytics focus
– Busch Anheuser 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 Yiorgos Allayannis, Gerry Yemen, Mary English, Paul Voorhees 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.
High brand equity
– Busch Anheuser has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Busch Anheuser to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Busch Anheuser has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Busch Anheuser 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Busch Anheuser is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Busch Anheuser in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Busch Anheuser 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 This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch - 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 Busch Anheuser 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.
Organizational Resilience of Busch Anheuser
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Busch Anheuser does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Busch Anheuser in the sector have low bargaining power. This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Busch Anheuser to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Busch Anheuser has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch 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.
Learning organization
- Busch Anheuser 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 Busch Anheuser is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch are -
Need for greater diversity
– Busch Anheuser 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Busch Anheuser 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Busch Anheuser 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Busch Anheuser 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 - This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Busch Anheuser is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch 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 Busch Anheuser has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch, it seems that the employees of Busch Anheuser don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch 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 Busch Anheuser 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch, in the dynamic environment Busch Anheuser has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Busch Anheuser has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Busch Anheuser is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Busch Anheuser needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Busch Anheuser to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Busch Anheuser, firm in the HBR case study This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch | 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 This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Busch Anheuser 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. Busch Anheuser 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Busch Anheuser can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Busch Anheuser has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Busch Anheuser to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch case study. Busch Anheuser can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Busch Anheuser can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Busch Anheuser 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, This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Busch Anheuser can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Busch Anheuser in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Loyalty marketing
– Busch Anheuser 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, Busch Anheuser 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 Busch Anheuser to increase its market reach. Busch Anheuser 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.
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 Busch Anheuser 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Busch Anheuser 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 Finance & Accounting 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 Busch Anheuser in the consumer business. Now Busch Anheuser can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch are -
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 Busch Anheuser in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch, Busch Anheuser may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Busch Anheuser 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 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. Busch Anheuser needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Busch Anheuser 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.
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. Busch Anheuser 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.
Environmental challenges
– Busch Anheuser 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. Busch Anheuser can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Busch Anheuser has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Busch Anheuser needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Busch Anheuser in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Busch Anheuser with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
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 Busch Anheuser.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Busch Anheuser 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 This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch 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 This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch 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 This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch 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 This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch 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 This Bud's for Who? The Battle for Anheuser-Busch 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 Busch Anheuser needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.