New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification
In the winter of 2012, the New Belgium Brewing Company (NBB) in Fort Collins, Colorado, was considering becoming a certified B Corporation (B Corp). Dedication and willingness to share with employees had always been a part of NBB, whose values also extended to consideration of the natural environment and philanthropy. NBB had grown tremendously over the years, partly thanks to its focus on the triple bottom line. Already the third-largest craft brewery in the United States, NBB was now considering opening a second brewery. Perhaps surprisingly, this economic growth was accompanied by a reduction in the company's carbon footprint, and a greater impact on industry and society through philanthropy and lobbying for stricter environmental requirements. The board of directors had asked the assistant director of sustainability to make a recommendation regarding B Corp certification. Should she recommend certification, she would also need to convince the employees of its value; at that time, employees owned part of NBB, and they would soon own 100 per cent. Kent Walker is affiliated with University of Windsor.
Swot Analysis of "New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification" written by Kent Walker, Taylor Laporte includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Nbb Certification facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices,
technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Nbb Certification, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Nbb Certification 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 New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Nbb Certification
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 Nbb Certification
Strengths New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Nbb Certification in New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Nbb Certification in the sector have low bargaining power. New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Nbb Certification to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Nbb Certification to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Nbb Certification to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Nbb Certification
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Nbb Certification does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Nbb Certification has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Nbb Certification 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.
High brand equity
– Nbb Certification has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Nbb Certification to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Nbb Certification has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Nbb Certification is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Nbb Certification 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 New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Nbb Certification is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Nbb Certification 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 Nbb Certification in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Nbb Certification 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 Kent Walker, Taylor Laporte 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Nbb Certification is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification 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 Nbb Certification 's lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Nbb Certification 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 New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification, is just above the industry average. Nbb Certification 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Nbb Certification is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Nbb Certification needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Nbb Certification to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification 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 Nbb Certification has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Nbb Certification 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, Nbb Certification 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Kent Walker, Taylor Laporte suggests that, Nbb Certification is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Nbb Certification is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification 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 Nbb Certification, firm in the HBR case study New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification | 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 New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Nbb Certification 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.
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. Nbb Certification can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Nbb Certification 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Nbb Certification 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.
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. Nbb Certification 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. Nbb Certification 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Nbb Certification 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Nbb Certification 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 New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Nbb Certification to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Nbb Certification 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Nbb Certification 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Nbb Certification 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
– Nbb Certification 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Nbb Certification to increase its market reach. Nbb Certification 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.
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. Nbb Certification can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification are -
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.
Increasing wage structure of Nbb Certification
– 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 Nbb Certification.
Regulatory challenges
– Nbb Certification needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Nbb Certification with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification, Nbb Certification 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 .
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 Nbb Certification.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Nbb Certification has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Nbb Certification 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Nbb Certification is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Nbb Certification 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.
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 Nbb Certification in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Nbb Certification 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.
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 Nbb Certification business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification 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 New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification 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 New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification 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 New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification 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 New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification 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 Nbb Certification needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
