Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries
This is an issues-oriented note designed to stimulate discussion of the ethical aspects of the sale of pesticides which are not approved for any use or only for restricted use in the United States to less developed countries. It is organized as follows: the problem, some examples, what a pesticide is, the pesticide industry, benefits of pesticides, risks to humans, the industry response, and regulation of pesticides.
Authors :: Kenneth E. Goodpaster, David E. Whiteside
Swot Analysis of "Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries" written by Kenneth E. Goodpaster, David E. Whiteside includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Pesticides Pesticide facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, Globalization, Health, Social responsibility and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Pesticides Pesticide, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Pesticides Pesticide 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 Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Pesticides Pesticide
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 Pesticides Pesticide
Strengths Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Pesticides Pesticide in Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Pesticides Pesticide 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 Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Pesticides Pesticide is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Pesticides Pesticide to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Pesticides Pesticide to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Pesticides Pesticide is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries 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 Pesticides Pesticide in the sector have low bargaining power. Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Pesticides Pesticide to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Pesticides Pesticide is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Pesticides Pesticide digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Pesticides Pesticide 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Analytics focus
– Pesticides Pesticide 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 Kenneth E. Goodpaster, David E. Whiteside 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.
Learning organization
- Pesticides Pesticide 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 Pesticides Pesticide is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Pesticides Pesticide 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.
High brand equity
– Pesticides Pesticide has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Pesticides Pesticide to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries, is just above the industry average. Pesticides Pesticide 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Pesticides Pesticide, firm in the HBR case study Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries 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 Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Pesticides Pesticide is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Pesticides Pesticide 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 Pesticides Pesticide 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Pesticides Pesticide is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Pesticides Pesticide 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 Pesticides Pesticide 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 - Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Kenneth E. Goodpaster, David E. Whiteside suggests that, Pesticides Pesticide 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 star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries 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 Pesticides Pesticide has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Pesticides Pesticide 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.
Opportunities Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries | 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 Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Pesticides Pesticide 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 Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Pesticides Pesticide to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Pesticides Pesticide 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. Pesticides Pesticide 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Pesticides Pesticide is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Pesticides Pesticide 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 Pesticides Pesticide 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 Pesticides Pesticide to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Pesticides Pesticide 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Pesticides Pesticide 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Pesticides Pesticide has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Pesticides Pesticide to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries case study. Pesticides Pesticide can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Pesticides Pesticide 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.
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 Pesticides Pesticide 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Pesticides Pesticide 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Pesticides Pesticide to increase its market reach. Pesticides Pesticide 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Pesticides Pesticide 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 Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Pesticides Pesticide 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries, Pesticides Pesticide 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 .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Pesticides Pesticide is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Pesticides Pesticide.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Pesticides Pesticide has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Pesticides Pesticide 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Pesticides Pesticide 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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Pesticides Pesticide 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.
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 Pesticides Pesticide in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Pesticides Pesticide 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. Pesticides Pesticide needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Pesticides Pesticide with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries 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 Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries 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 Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries 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 Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries 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 Note on the Export of Pesticides from the United States to Developing Countries 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 Pesticides Pesticide needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.