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 - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption, 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 -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Nbb Certification 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification 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 Nbb Certification in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
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.
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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Nbb Certification 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 New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Nbb Certification digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Nbb Certification 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.
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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Nbb Certification are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Nbb Certification is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Nbb Certification 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. Nbb Certification 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Nbb Certification 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 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Nbb Certification products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Nbb Certification needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification, in the dynamic environment Nbb Certification has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Nbb Certification has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 -
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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Nbb Certification is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification 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 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.
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 Nbb Certification in the consumer business. Now Nbb Certification can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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.
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.
Buying journey improvements
– Nbb Certification can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Nbb Certification 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, New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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.
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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Nbb Certification has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Nbb Certification to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the New Belgium Brewing Company and B Corporation Certification case study. Nbb Certification can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Nbb Certification 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.
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.
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 .
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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Nbb Certification 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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Nbb Certification 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. Nbb Certification can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Nbb Certification can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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. Nbb Certification 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 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.