SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Remy Cointreau (United Kingdom)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Remy Cointreau is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Remy Cointreau can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Remy Cointreau, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Remy Cointreau 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 Remy Cointreau can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Remy Cointreau
2. Improving business portfolio management of Remy Cointreau
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United Kingdom
4. Making a Beverages (Alcoholic) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Remy Cointreau
Strengths of Remy Cointreau | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Remy Cointreau are -
Ability to lead change in Beverages (Alcoholic)
– Remy Cointreau is one of the leading players in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry in United Kingdom. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry in United Kingdom but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Remy Cointreau in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Remy Cointreau has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Remy Cointreau 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Remy Cointreau in the Consumer/Non-Cyclical sector have low bargaining power. Remy Cointreau has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Remy Cointreau to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Remy Cointreau in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Remy Cointreau 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 Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. The technology infrastructure of United Kingdom is also helping 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
– Remy Cointreau has one of the best training and development program in Consumer/Non-Cyclical industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Remy Cointreau has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in – Remy Cointreau staying ahead in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Remy Cointreau is one of the most innovative firm in Beverages (Alcoholic) sector.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry
– Remy Cointreau has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Remy Cointreau to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Remy Cointreau to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Remy Cointreau has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Remy Cointreau have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Remy Cointreau comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Beverages (Alcoholic) 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.
Strong track record of project management in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry
– Remy Cointreau is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses of Remy Cointreau | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Remy Cointreau are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United Kingdom, Remy Cointreau 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, Remy Cointreau is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Remy Cointreau to provide better information regarding Beverages (Alcoholic) products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Remy Cointreau has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Remy Cointreau 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 Beverages (Alcoholic) industry using digital technology.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of Remy Cointreau is just above the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry average. It 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Remy Cointreau 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.
Employees’ less understanding of Remy Cointreau strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Remy Cointreau 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Remy Cointreau needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Remy Cointreau can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Remy Cointreau is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United Kingdom, Remy Cointreau 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 Beverages (Alcoholic) industry.
Need for greater diversity
– Remy Cointreau 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Remy Cointreau has some of the most successful models in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. Remy Cointreau should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Remy Cointreau Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Remy Cointreau are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Remy Cointreau is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Remy Cointreau can utilize new technology in the field of Beverages (Alcoholic) industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Remy Cointreau 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Remy Cointreau 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 Remy Cointreau to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Remy Cointreau has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Beverages (Alcoholic) sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Remy Cointreau to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Remy Cointreau to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Remy Cointreau 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Remy Cointreau 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
– Remy Cointreau 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Remy Cointreau 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. Remy Cointreau 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Remy Cointreau 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 Beverages (Alcoholic) industry.
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. Remy Cointreau 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 Remy Cointreau can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Remy Cointreau can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Remy Cointreau can develop new processes and procedures in Beverages (Alcoholic) 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.
Threats Remy Cointreau External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Remy Cointreau are -
Environmental challenges
– Remy Cointreau 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. Remy Cointreau can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Beverages (Alcoholic) 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. Remy Cointreau needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Remy Cointreau can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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 Remy Cointreau.
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. Remy Cointreau 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Remy Cointreau has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Remy Cointreau needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Beverages (Alcoholic) 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Remy Cointreau is facing in Beverages (Alcoholic) sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Beverages (Alcoholic) industry are lowering. It can presents Remy Cointreau with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Beverages (Alcoholic) sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Remy Cointreau in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. The Beverages (Alcoholic) 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.
Increasing wage structure of Remy Cointreau
– 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 Remy Cointreau.
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 Remy Cointreau in the Beverages (Alcoholic) sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Remy Cointreau 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 Beverages (Alcoholic) industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Remy Cointreau Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Remy Cointreau 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 Remy Cointreau 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 Remy Cointreau 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 Remy Cointreau 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 Remy Cointreau needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
