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Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World


Internationally recognized Brazilian Nizan Guanaes, co-founder of Grupo ABC, a rapidly growing global advertising firm ranked 18th in 2011, had aspirations to be in the top 10 by 2015. Grupo ABC thrived by identifying national (Brazilian) challenges and incorporating them in creative messages. Guanaes steered the group toward thinking big while acting locally, tackling societal challenges and building partnerships, as he entered the world stage; serving as an informal ambassador for Brazil; playing important roles in international forums as the Clinton Global Initiative, UNESCO, and the Cannes Lions Advertising Festival. Guanaes needed to determine the best growth strategy, how to seize opportunities, and/or how to adapt to meet his ambitious goal.

Authors :: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Gustavo A. Herrero, Ricardo Reisen de Pinho

Topics :: Leadership & Managing People

Tags :: Entrepreneurship, International business, Marketing, Recession, Strategy execution, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World" written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Gustavo A. Herrero, Ricardo Reisen de Pinho includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Guanaes Grupo facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, International business, Marketing, Recession, Strategy execution and Leadership & Managing People.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Guanaes Grupo, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Guanaes Grupo 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 Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Guanaes Grupo
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 Guanaes Grupo




Strengths Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Guanaes Grupo in Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World Harvard Business Review case study are -

Analytics focus

– Guanaes Grupo 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 Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Gustavo A. Herrero, Ricardo Reisen de Pinho 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

– Guanaes Grupo has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Guanaes Grupo to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Guanaes Grupo 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 Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World - 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

– Guanaes Grupo is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World 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.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Guanaes Grupo in the sector have low bargaining power. Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Guanaes Grupo to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Guanaes Grupo is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Organizational Resilience of Guanaes Grupo

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Guanaes Grupo does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Innovation driven organization

– Guanaes Grupo is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Guanaes Grupo 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 Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Guanaes Grupo in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Learning organization

- Guanaes Grupo 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 Guanaes Grupo is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Guanaes Grupo has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Guanaes Grupo 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.






Weaknesses Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World are -

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World, is just above the industry average. Guanaes Grupo 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.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Guanaes Grupo is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Need for greater diversity

– Guanaes Grupo 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 strategic competitive environment developments

– As Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World HBR case study mentions - Guanaes Grupo takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World, 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 Guanaes Grupo is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Guanaes Grupo needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Guanaes Grupo to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Gustavo A. Herrero, Ricardo Reisen de Pinho suggests that, Guanaes Grupo 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.

High dependence on existing supply chain

– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Guanaes Grupo supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Guanaes Grupo vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World, in the dynamic environment Guanaes Grupo has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Guanaes Grupo has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World, it seems that the employees of Guanaes Grupo 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.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Guanaes Grupo 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.




Opportunities Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World | 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 Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World are -

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Guanaes Grupo 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.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Guanaes Grupo 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, Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Developing new processes and practices

– Guanaes Grupo 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Guanaes Grupo 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Guanaes Grupo can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Guanaes Grupo 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 Guanaes Grupo to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Guanaes Grupo 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 Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Guanaes Grupo to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

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 Guanaes Grupo to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.

Manufacturing automation

– Guanaes Grupo 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.

Buying journey improvements

– Guanaes Grupo can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Guanaes Grupo 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.

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. Guanaes Grupo 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. Guanaes Grupo 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.

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. Guanaes Grupo can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.




Threats Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World are -

Instability in the European markets

– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Guanaes Grupo 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.

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 Guanaes Grupo.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Guanaes Grupo 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.

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. Guanaes Grupo can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Guanaes Grupo 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.

Increasing wage structure of Guanaes Grupo

– 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 Guanaes Grupo.

Environmental challenges

– Guanaes Grupo 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. Guanaes Grupo can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.

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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World, Guanaes Grupo 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 .

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 Guanaes Grupo business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Guanaes Grupo 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 Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World .

Consumer confidence and its impact on Guanaes Grupo demand

– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Guanaes Grupo has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Guanaes Grupo 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.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World 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 Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World 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 Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World 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 Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World 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 Grupo ABC and Nizan Guanaes's Path from Brazil to the World 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 Guanaes Grupo needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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