The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer
The case presents a role play between a buyer and a seller who must negotiate a price for a perishable but rare commodity. The case covers the dilemma faced by buyers and sellers when they are in possession of limited information but must still attempt to negotiate a best-case scenario for themselves. This case involves the buyer and is used with The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - (A) The Seller (W12258).
Swot Analysis of "The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer" written by Samish Dalal, Agarwal Rajiv includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cinnamon Buyer facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Organizational culture and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cinnamon Buyer, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cinnamon Buyer 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 The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cinnamon Buyer
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 Cinnamon Buyer
Strengths The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cinnamon Buyer in The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Cinnamon Buyer 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 Samish Dalal, Agarwal Rajiv 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cinnamon Buyer 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 The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Cinnamon Buyer 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 Cinnamon Buyer in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer 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.
Learning organization
- Cinnamon Buyer 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 Cinnamon Buyer is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cinnamon Buyer in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Cinnamon Buyer 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 The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cinnamon Buyer is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cinnamon Buyer digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cinnamon Buyer 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cinnamon Buyer to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cinnamon Buyer to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cinnamon Buyer is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cinnamon Buyer in the sector have low bargaining power. The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cinnamon Buyer to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer, it seems that the employees of Cinnamon Buyer 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Cinnamon Buyer is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Cinnamon Buyer needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Cinnamon Buyer to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cinnamon Buyer is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Cinnamon Buyer, firm in the HBR case study The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
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 Cinnamon Buyer supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cinnamon Buyer vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer 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 Cinnamon Buyer has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer 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 Cinnamon Buyer 's lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Cinnamon Buyer 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. Cinnamon Buyer 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer, in the dynamic environment Cinnamon Buyer has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cinnamon Buyer 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 The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer, is just above the industry average. Cinnamon Buyer 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Cinnamon Buyer products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Cinnamon Buyer needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer | 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 The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer are -
Buying journey improvements
– Cinnamon Buyer can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer 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, Cinnamon Buyer 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, The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Cinnamon Buyer 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Cinnamon Buyer 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 The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cinnamon Buyer 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. Cinnamon Buyer can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Cinnamon Buyer 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cinnamon Buyer 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, Cinnamon Buyer 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Cinnamon Buyer 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.
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 Cinnamon Buyer 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cinnamon Buyer has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cinnamon Buyer to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer case study. Cinnamon Buyer can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cinnamon Buyer to increase its market reach. Cinnamon Buyer 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cinnamon Buyer 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 Cinnamon Buyer to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cinnamon Buyer 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.
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 Cinnamon Buyer in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cinnamon Buyer 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Cinnamon Buyer 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Cinnamon Buyer 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cinnamon Buyer 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 Cinnamon Buyer.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cinnamon Buyer 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 The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cinnamon Buyer has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cinnamon Buyer 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Cinnamon Buyer 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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Cinnamon Buyer 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. Cinnamon Buyer can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Cinnamon Buyer business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer 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 The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer 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 The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer 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 The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer 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 The Cinnamon Case: Sales Negotiation (Role Play) - B The Buyer 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 Cinnamon Buyer needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.