Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives
The case deals with the value chain of groundnuts, from the farm to the market, conducted through a system of cooperatives based in the district of Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh, India. The organization providing the necessary support and training to the cooperatives is the Centre for Collective Development (CCD). CCD is able to provide financing, training and other support required to the village-level cooperatives and the district-level federation of co-operatives. The case describes the different activities in the supply chain from the farm, to the mill to the final marketing. It further highlights the challenges from issues such as lack of irrigation, price fluctuations, etc. The key decisions to be made are whether the scope of the co-operatives should be expanded to include other products, and whether the federation should invest in forward integration and further value-adding activities.
Authors :: Anshuman Tripathy, Manu Agarwal, Tabish Imam
Swot Analysis of "Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives" written by Anshuman Tripathy, Manu Agarwal, Tabish Imam includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Operatives Anantapur facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Operatives Anantapur, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Operatives Anantapur 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 Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Operatives Anantapur
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 Operatives Anantapur
Strengths Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Operatives Anantapur in Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Operatives Anantapur is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Operatives Anantapur is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Operatives Anantapur 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 Anshuman Tripathy, Manu Agarwal, Tabish Imam 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 Operatives Anantapur
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Operatives Anantapur does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Operatives Anantapur 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 Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Operatives Anantapur has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Operatives Anantapur to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Operatives Anantapur 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Operatives Anantapur is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Learning organization
- Operatives Anantapur 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 Operatives Anantapur is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Operatives Anantapur has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Operatives Anantapur 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)
– Operatives Anantapur 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 Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Operatives Anantapur digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Operatives Anantapur has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Weaknesses Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Operatives Anantapur 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives 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 Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Operatives Anantapur is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives, is just above the industry average. Operatives Anantapur 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Anshuman Tripathy, Manu Agarwal, Tabish Imam suggests that, Operatives Anantapur 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Operatives Anantapur 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Operatives Anantapur 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. Operatives Anantapur 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Operatives Anantapur, firm in the HBR case study Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Operatives Anantapur 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Operatives Anantapur 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 Operatives Anantapur 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 - Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives 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 Operatives Anantapur has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives | 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 Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives are -
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. Operatives Anantapur can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Operatives Anantapur in the consumer business. Now Operatives Anantapur can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Operatives Anantapur 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 Operatives Anantapur to increase its market reach. Operatives Anantapur 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Operatives Anantapur 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 Operatives Anantapur to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Operatives Anantapur can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Operatives Anantapur to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Operatives Anantapur 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Operatives Anantapur 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Operatives Anantapur can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Operatives Anantapur can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives 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 Operatives Anantapur 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 Operatives Anantapur 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.
Threats Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Operatives Anantapur with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Environmental challenges
– Operatives Anantapur 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. Operatives Anantapur can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Increasing wage structure of Operatives Anantapur
– 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 Operatives Anantapur.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives, Operatives Anantapur 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 .
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. Operatives Anantapur 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Operatives Anantapur 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 Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Operatives Anantapur 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.
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 Operatives Anantapur business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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 Operatives Anantapur.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Operatives Anantapur 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.
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. Operatives Anantapur can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Operatives Anantapur needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives 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 Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives 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 Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives 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 Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives 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 Groundnut Value Chain at Anantapur: Growing Through Co-Operatives 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 Operatives Anantapur needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.