Case Study Description of Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament
This B2B role play case and the six role play supplements describe an account manager's seven month sales process and the customer's buying process that led to a lost order. It is an excellent case to explore organizational buying behaviour, the discipline of the selling process and the management of sales resources (time) as an asset. It can be included in an introductory marketing course at the MBA or undergraduate level. It is equally effective for executive development. It also fits in a B2B marketing course to explore organizational buying behaviour, or in the introduction module in a sales management course.
Swot Analysis of "Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament" written by Michael Taylor includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Buying Behaviour facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Buying Behaviour, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Buying Behaviour 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 Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Buying Behaviour
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 Buying Behaviour
Strengths Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Buying Behaviour in Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Buying Behaviour
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Buying Behaviour does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Buying Behaviour is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Buying Behaviour is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament 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.
High brand equity
– Buying Behaviour has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Buying Behaviour to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Buying Behaviour has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Buying Behaviour 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Buying Behaviour 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Buying Behaviour 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 Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Buying Behaviour to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Buying Behaviour to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Buying Behaviour in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Buying Behaviour in the sector have low bargaining power. Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Buying Behaviour to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Buying Behaviour has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament 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.
Weaknesses Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament are -
Need for greater diversity
– Buying Behaviour 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Buying Behaviour needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Buying Behaviour 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Michael Taylor suggests that, Buying Behaviour 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 Buying Behaviour 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 - Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Buying Behaviour, firm in the HBR case study Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament 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 Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Buying Behaviour is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament 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 Buying Behaviour 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament, it seems that the employees of Buying Behaviour 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Buying Behaviour 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 Buying Behaviour products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Buying Behaviour needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament | 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 Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Buying Behaviour 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Buying Behaviour can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Buying Behaviour operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Buying Behaviour 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 Buying Behaviour 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 Buying Behaviour to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Buying Behaviour 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
– Buying Behaviour 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.
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. Buying Behaviour 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. Buying Behaviour 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Buying Behaviour can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Buying Behaviour 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 Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Buying Behaviour to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Buying Behaviour 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, Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Buying Behaviour can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Buying Behaviour is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Buying Behaviour 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.
Threats Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament are -
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 Buying Behaviour in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
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. Buying Behaviour needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Buying Behaviour 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. Buying Behaviour can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Buying Behaviour 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Buying Behaviour 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.
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. Buying Behaviour 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Buying Behaviour is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Buying Behaviour business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Buying Behaviour can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Buying Behaviour 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 Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Buying Behaviour 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament 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 Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament 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 Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament 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 Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament 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 Paramount Distributing Inc.: The Popcorn Predicament 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 Buying Behaviour needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.