Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry
Ned Larsen, the CEO of Ferris Valley Foods Company (FVF), located in westernMichigan, was focusing on the issue of hiring ex-felons. He planned to ask his management team to consider if (and how) FVF could use information obtained from the Michigan Department of Corrections (and the Michigan Prisoner Reentry Initiative) and West Michigan Therapy, Inc. to benefit people like Lori Mitten, a middle-aged ex-offender who recently earned a Bachelor of Business Administration degree and was seeking employment. In a deeper sense, Ferris Valley Foods Company also needed to consider the meaning of corporate social responsibility, with respect to the human, financial, and time-related resources that would be required in order to reach out to ex-offenders. One option might be to adopt a hands-off approach and either do nothing at all or simply make a financial donation to a non-profit organization that provides support for ex-offenders; another could be to become actively involved in partnering with the aforementioned entities. Finally, it could begin to hire ex-offenders. Additional (ethical) complications arise because the CEO's nephew is one of the ex-offenders portrayed in the case.
Authors :: Lisa Eshbach, Nancy M. Levenburg
Topics :: Leadership & Managing People
Tags :: Hiring, Human resource management, Social enterprise, Social responsibility, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry" written by Lisa Eshbach, Nancy M. Levenburg includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Offenders Ferris facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Hiring, Human resource management, Social enterprise, Social responsibility and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Offenders Ferris, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Offenders Ferris 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 Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Offenders Ferris
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 Offenders Ferris
Strengths Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Offenders Ferris in Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Offenders Ferris 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.
Learning organization
- Offenders Ferris 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 Offenders Ferris is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Offenders Ferris is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Offenders Ferris to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Offenders Ferris to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Offenders Ferris 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 Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Offenders Ferris 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 Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Offenders Ferris 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 Lisa Eshbach, Nancy M. Levenburg 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
– Offenders Ferris has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Offenders Ferris to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Offenders Ferris in the sector have low bargaining power. Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Offenders Ferris to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Offenders Ferris is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Offenders Ferris 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 Offenders Ferris in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Offenders Ferris in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Offenders Ferris 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. Offenders Ferris 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
– Offenders Ferris 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Offenders Ferris is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Offenders Ferris needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Offenders Ferris to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry, in the dynamic environment Offenders Ferris has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Offenders Ferris has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry, is just above the industry average. Offenders Ferris 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry 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 Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Offenders Ferris is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry HBR case study mentions - Offenders Ferris 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry 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 Offenders Ferris has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Offenders Ferris 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 - Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Offenders Ferris 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Offenders Ferris products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Offenders Ferris needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry | 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 Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry are -
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 Offenders Ferris 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
– Offenders Ferris 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.
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. Offenders Ferris can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Offenders Ferris can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Offenders Ferris 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Offenders Ferris 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Offenders Ferris 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.
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. Offenders Ferris can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Offenders Ferris can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Offenders Ferris operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Offenders Ferris can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry 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, Offenders Ferris 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, Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Offenders Ferris 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, Offenders Ferris is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry 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.
Threats Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry, Offenders Ferris 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 Offenders Ferris with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Offenders Ferris has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Offenders Ferris 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Offenders Ferris 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Offenders Ferris 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 Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry .
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. Offenders Ferris can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Offenders Ferris 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Offenders Ferris 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.
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.
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 Offenders Ferris in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Offenders Ferris 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.
Increasing wage structure of Offenders Ferris
– 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 Offenders Ferris.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry 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 Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry 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 Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry 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 Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry 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 Ferris Valley Foods Company: Corporate Social Responsibility and Reentry 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 Offenders Ferris needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
