BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH
This merger case puts face to face a team of negotiators representing InBev and another representing Anheuser Busch (AB). These teams have to negotiate on a potential acquisition of AB. Therefore, this case is much broader than just an exercise in valuation or finance. Learning objectives: This case will challenge participants on negotiation techniques, strategic analysis, working with a team, working "against" a team, present a deal in public and many other things.
Swot Analysis of "BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH" written by Nuno Fernandes, Patricia Santos includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Busch Anheuser facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Mergers & acquisitions and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Busch Anheuser, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Busch Anheuser 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 BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Busch Anheuser
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 Busch Anheuser
Strengths BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Busch Anheuser in BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Busch Anheuser in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Busch Anheuser is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH 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.
Training and development
– Busch Anheuser has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH 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.
Organizational Resilience of Busch Anheuser
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Busch Anheuser does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Busch Anheuser 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Busch Anheuser has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Busch Anheuser has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Busch Anheuser 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Busch Anheuser 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 Busch Anheuser in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Busch Anheuser 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 Busch Anheuser is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Busch Anheuser has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Busch Anheuser to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Busch Anheuser 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 Nuno Fernandes, Patricia Santos 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.
Weaknesses BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Busch Anheuser is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH 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 Busch Anheuser has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH 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 BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Busch Anheuser is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Busch Anheuser has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Nuno Fernandes, Patricia Santos suggests that, Busch Anheuser 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Busch Anheuser 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 - BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Busch Anheuser 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Busch Anheuser is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Busch Anheuser needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Busch Anheuser to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Busch Anheuser 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH, is just above the industry average. Busch Anheuser 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Busch Anheuser 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 BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH | 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 BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH are -
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. Busch Anheuser 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. Busch Anheuser 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Busch Anheuser 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 BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Busch Anheuser to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Busch Anheuser 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 Busch Anheuser can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Busch Anheuser has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Busch Anheuser to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH case study. Busch Anheuser can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Busch Anheuser 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Busch Anheuser can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Busch Anheuser operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Busch Anheuser in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Busch Anheuser 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Busch Anheuser 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 Busch Anheuser to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Busch Anheuser 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Busch Anheuser 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Busch Anheuser 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.
Threats BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH are -
Regulatory challenges
– Busch Anheuser 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH, Busch Anheuser 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 .
Increasing wage structure of Busch Anheuser
– 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 Busch Anheuser.
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. Busch Anheuser can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Busch Anheuser 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Busch Anheuser 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Busch Anheuser with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Busch Anheuser 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Busch Anheuser 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.
Environmental challenges
– Busch Anheuser 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. Busch Anheuser can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Busch Anheuser needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Busch Anheuser 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH 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 BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH 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 BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH 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 BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH 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 BIG BEER: INBEV VS. ANHEUSER BUSCH 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 Busch Anheuser needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.