SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Cresud SACIF (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Cresud SACIF is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Cresud SACIF can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cresud SACIF, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cresud SACIF 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 Cresud SACIF can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Cresud SACIF
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cresud SACIF
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Retail (Grocery) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Cresud SACIF
Strengths of Cresud SACIF | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cresud SACIF are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cresud SACIF in Retail (Grocery) industry is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cresud SACIF has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Retail (Grocery) industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of Cresud SACIF have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Retail (Grocery) industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cresud SACIF digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cresud SACIF 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.
High brand equity
– Cresud SACIF has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cresud SACIF to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management in the Retail (Grocery) industry
– Cresud SACIF is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Cresud SACIF is one of the most innovative firm in Retail (Grocery) sector.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cresud SACIF in the Services sector have low bargaining power. Cresud SACIF has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cresud SACIF to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Cresud SACIF comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the Retail (Grocery) 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cresud SACIF is one of the leading players in the Retail (Grocery) industry in United States. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in United States. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– Cresud SACIF 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 Retail (Grocery) industry. The technology infrastructure of United States 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.
Organizational Resilience of Cresud SACIF
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing Cresud SACIF does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Retail (Grocery)
– Cresud SACIF is one of the leading players in the Retail (Grocery) industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Retail (Grocery) industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Cresud SACIF in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses of Cresud SACIF | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cresud SACIF are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Cresud SACIF has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the Retail (Grocery) industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cresud SACIF is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Cresud SACIF to provide better information regarding Retail (Grocery) products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ less understanding of Cresud SACIF strategy
– From the outside it seems that the employees of Cresud SACIF 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 Cresud SACIF is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Retail (Grocery) industry, but Cresud SACIF needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Cresud SACIF to focus more on services in the Retail (Grocery) industry rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Cresud SACIF is one of the leading players in the Retail (Grocery) industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Retail (Grocery) industry in last five years.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Cresud SACIF 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, Cresud SACIF needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Retail (Grocery) industry, Cresud SACIF 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Cresud SACIF needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Retail (Grocery) industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at Cresud SACIF can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cresud SACIF is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at Cresud SACIF, in the dynamic environment of Retail (Grocery) industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cresud SACIF has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Cresud SACIF, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Retail (Grocery) industry. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Cresud SACIF Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Cresud SACIF are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Retail (Grocery) industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Cresud SACIF 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. Cresud SACIF can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Cresud SACIF has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Retail (Grocery) sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled Cresud SACIF to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cresud SACIF to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cresud SACIF 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Retail (Grocery) industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Cresud SACIF can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cresud SACIF in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Retail (Grocery) industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cresud SACIF 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 Retail (Grocery) industry.
Loyalty marketing
– Cresud SACIF 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cresud SACIF can develop new processes and procedures in Retail (Grocery) 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Cresud SACIF can improve the customer journey of consumers in the Retail (Grocery) industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. It 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Retail (Grocery) industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Cresud SACIF in the Retail (Grocery) industry. Now Cresud SACIF can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cresud SACIF to increase its market reach. Cresud SACIF 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, Cresud SACIF is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Cresud SACIF can utilize new technology in the field of Retail (Grocery) industry to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cresud SACIF can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Cresud SACIF External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Cresud SACIF are -
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. Cresud SACIF needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Retail (Grocery) industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Retail (Grocery) industry will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Cresud SACIF 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, Cresud SACIF 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 Cresud SACIF prominent markets.
Regulatory challenges
– Cresud SACIF 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 Retail (Grocery) industry regulations.
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. Cresud SACIF 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
– Cresud SACIF has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Retail (Grocery) industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cresud SACIF needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Retail (Grocery) 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.
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.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Cresud SACIF 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.
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 Cresud SACIF in the Retail (Grocery) sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Cresud SACIF 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 Retail (Grocery) industry and other sectors.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cresud SACIF 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 Retail (Grocery) industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Retail (Grocery) industry are lowering. It can presents Cresud SACIF with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Retail (Grocery) sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cresud SACIF Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Cresud SACIF 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 Cresud SACIF 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 Cresud SACIF 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 Cresud SACIF 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 Cresud SACIF needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
