Corby Spirit and Wine B (CSWb) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Beverages (Alcoholic)
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for Corby Spirit and Wine B (Canada)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , Corby Spirit and Wine B is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Corby Spirit and Wine B
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that Corby Spirit and Wine B can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Corby Spirit and Wine B, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Corby Spirit and Wine B 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 Corby Spirit and Wine B can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of Corby Spirit and Wine B
2. Improving business portfolio management of Corby Spirit and Wine B
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Canada
4. Making a Beverages (Alcoholic) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Corby Spirit and Wine B
Strengths of Corby Spirit and Wine B | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Corby Spirit and Wine B are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Corby Spirit and Wine B is present in almost all the verticals within the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. This has provided Corby Spirit and Wine B 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Corby Spirit and Wine B 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Corby Spirit and Wine B has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Corby Spirit and Wine B 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.
Learning organization
- Corby Spirit and Wine B 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 Corby Spirit and Wine B is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at Corby Spirit and Wine B emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Beverages (Alcoholic)
– Corby Spirit and Wine B is one of the leading players in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry in Canada. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry in Canada but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled Corby Spirit and Wine B in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– Corby Spirit and Wine B 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy of Corby Spirit and Wine B 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Corby Spirit and Wine B is one of the most innovative firm in Beverages (Alcoholic) sector.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry
– Corby Spirit and Wine B has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Corby Spirit and Wine B to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Corby Spirit and Wine B to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Corby Spirit and Wine B is one of the leading players in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry in Canada. It is in a position to attract the best talent available in Canada. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Corby Spirit and Wine B has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Corby Spirit and Wine B to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Corby Spirit and Wine B 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 Corby Spirit and Wine B have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses of Corby Spirit and Wine B | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Corby Spirit and Wine B are -
Skills based hiring in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Corby Spirit and Wine B 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Corby Spirit and Wine B products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Corby Spirit and Wine B needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Corby Spirit and Wine B 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Canada, Corby Spirit and Wine B 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, Corby Spirit and Wine B is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication can help Corby Spirit and Wine B to provide better information regarding Beverages (Alcoholic) products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry, Corby Spirit and Wine B 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Corby Spirit and Wine B 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Corby Spirit and Wine B has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry over the last five years. Corby Spirit and Wine B 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.
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 Corby Spirit and Wine B supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes, Corby Spirit and Wine B is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Corby Spirit and Wine B vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– From the 10K / annual statement of Corby Spirit and Wine B, it seems that company is thinking out the frontier risks that can impact Beverages (Alcoholic) 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that Corby Spirit and Wine B 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 Corby Spirit and Wine B can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Corby Spirit and Wine B is planning to shift buying processes online.
Corby Spirit and Wine B Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of Corby Spirit and Wine B are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Corby Spirit and Wine B has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. This can help Corby Spirit and Wine B to build a more holistic ecosystem for Corby Spirit and Wine B products in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry by providing – data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Corby Spirit and Wine B in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Corby Spirit and Wine B 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 Corby Spirit and Wine B to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Corby Spirit and Wine B 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Beverages (Alcoholic) industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Corby Spirit and Wine B in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. Now Corby Spirit and Wine B can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Corby Spirit and Wine B 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Corby Spirit and Wine B 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Corby Spirit and Wine B 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 Corby Spirit and Wine B to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Corby Spirit and Wine B can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Corby Spirit and Wine B operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Beverages (Alcoholic) sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Corby Spirit and Wine B is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Corby Spirit and Wine B 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Corby Spirit and Wine B can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Beverages (Alcoholic) sector. 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Corby Spirit and Wine B 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 Beverages (Alcoholic) industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Corby Spirit and Wine B 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. Corby Spirit and Wine B 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.
Threats Corby Spirit and Wine B External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of Corby Spirit and Wine B are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Corby Spirit and Wine B 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.
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 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. Corby Spirit and Wine B needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Corby Spirit and Wine B has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Beverages (Alcoholic) industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Corby Spirit and Wine B 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.
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 Corby Spirit and Wine B business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Corby Spirit and Wine B 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Corby Spirit and Wine B 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Corby Spirit and Wine B 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 Beverages (Alcoholic) industry and other sectors.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Corby Spirit and Wine B 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 Beverages (Alcoholic) industry.
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 Corby Spirit and Wine B in the Beverages (Alcoholic) sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Beverages (Alcoholic) industry are lowering. It can presents Corby Spirit and Wine B with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Beverages (Alcoholic) sector.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Corby Spirit and Wine B.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Corby Spirit and Wine B 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 Corby Spirit and Wine B prominent markets.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Corby Spirit and Wine B Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at Corby Spirit and Wine B 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 Corby Spirit and Wine B 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 Corby Spirit and Wine B 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 Corby Spirit and Wine B 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 Corby Spirit and Wine B needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.