Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory
Direct foreign investment in Russia was only 1% of GDP in 1999, and Russian industry was only half as productive in that year as in 1992. Not surprisingly, the prevailing opinion is that privatization has only aggravated Russia's economic problems, and that foreign firms should avoid investing in Russia for the time being. This case study argues that, on the contrary, Russian companies can be successfully integrated within a multinational organization. It shows that an Anglo-Saxon-style revolutionary change process is not always the best way to proceed in Eastern European organizations; that the commonly accepted goals of rapid change, employee empowerment and a flatter hierarchy are not necessarily appropriate in these organizations in the short-term, moreover that even the definitions of trust, strategy and leadership can differ according to cultural context. The challenge lies in understanding the complexities the lingering influence of the Soviet planned central economy - as well as the Russian culture and management systems.
Authors :: Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries, Elizabeth Florent-Treacy, Pavel Pavlovsky
Swot Analysis of "Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory" written by Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries, Elizabeth Florent-Treacy, Pavel Pavlovsky includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Russian Russia facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Mergers & acquisitions, Organizational culture and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Russian Russia, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Russian Russia 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Russian Russia
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 Russian Russia
Strengths Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Russian Russia in Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Russian Russia to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Russian Russia to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Russian Russia is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Russian Russia 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 Russian Russia is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Russian Russia has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Russian Russia to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Russian Russia is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Russian Russia 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 Manfred F.R. Kets de Vries, Elizabeth Florent-Treacy, Pavel Pavlovsky 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.
Training and development
– Russian Russia has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Russian Russia in the sector have low bargaining power. Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Russian Russia to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Russian Russia in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Russian Russia digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Russian Russia has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Russian Russia 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Russian Russia products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Russian Russia needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Russian Russia 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory, it seems that the employees of Russian Russia 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Russian Russia, firm in the HBR case study Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Russian Russia is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Russian Russia 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory, in the dynamic environment Russian Russia has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Russian Russia has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Russian Russia supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Russian Russia vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Russian Russia has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Russian Russia 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Russian Russia 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory | 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Russian Russia 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Russian Russia 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 Russian Russia to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Russian Russia 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Russian Russia to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Russian Russia can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Russian Russia 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Russian Russia can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Russian Russia operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Russian Russia 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Russian Russia to increase its market reach. Russian Russia 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Russian Russia is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory 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.
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. Russian Russia 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. Russian Russia 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Russian Russia 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Russian Russia 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Russian Russia 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, Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Russian Russia 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.
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.
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. Russian Russia 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.
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. Russian Russia needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Russian Russia has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Russian Russia 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.
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. Russian Russia 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
– Russian Russia 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.
Environmental challenges
– Russian Russia 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. Russian Russia can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Russian Russia 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Russian Russia with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Russian Russia.
Increasing wage structure of Russian Russia
– 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 Russian Russia.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory 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 Waking the Bear (A): "Danonizing" the Bolshevik Biscuit Factory 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 Russian Russia needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
