SodaStream (SODA) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / MBA Resources
Beverages (Nonalcoholic)
Strategy / MBA Resources
Introduction to SWOT Analysis
SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix for SodaStream (United States)
Based on various researches at Oak Spring University , SodaStream is operating in a macro-environment that has been destablized by – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University, we believe that SodaStream can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the SodaStream, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which SodaStream 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 SodaStream can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning of SodaStream
2. Improving business portfolio management of SodaStream
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in United States
4. Making a Beverages (Nonalcoholic) sector specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of SodaStream
Strengths of SodaStream | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of SodaStream are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the SodaStream 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.
Ability to lead change in Beverages (Nonalcoholic)
– SodaStream is one of the leading players in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry in United States. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry in United States but also across the existing markets. The ability to lead change has enabled SodaStream in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– SodaStream has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry. Secondly the value chain collaborators of SodaStream have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– SodaStream 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.
Organizational Resilience of SodaStream
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing SodaStream does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that SodaStream has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Digital Transformation in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For SodaStream digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. SodaStream 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
– SodaStream has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled SodaStream to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– SodaStream is one of the leading players in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) 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.
Innovation driven organization
– SodaStream is one of the most innovative firm in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) sector.
Learning organization
- SodaStream 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 SodaStream is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders at SodaStream emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– SodaStream has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. SodaStream 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.
Weaknesses of SodaStream | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of SodaStream are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, SodaStream 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 (Nonalcoholic) industry using digital technology.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As SodaStream is one of the leading players in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry, it takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry in last five years.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative at SodaStream, in the dynamic environment of Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry it has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. SodaStream has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of United States, SodaStream needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– From the outside it seems that SodaStream needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department at SodaStream can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as SodaStream is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, SodaStream 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 (Nonalcoholic) industry over the last five years. SodaStream 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.
Need for greater diversity
– SodaStream 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, SodaStream 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry
– because of the regulatory requirements in United States, SodaStream 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 (Nonalcoholic) industry.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee of SodaStream is just above the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of SodaStream products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, SodaStream needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
SodaStream Opportunities | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities of SodaStream are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– SodaStream has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled SodaStream to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help SodaStream to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– consumer behavior has changed in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. SodaStream 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. SodaStream 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.
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 SodaStream 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, SodaStream can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that SodaStream operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, SodaStream 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 SodaStream to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects SodaStream can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for SodaStream in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry. Now SodaStream can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– SodaStream 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.
Manufacturing automation
– SodaStream can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) 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.
Loyalty marketing
– SodaStream 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help SodaStream to increase its market reach. SodaStream will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for SodaStream 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 SodaStream to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, SodaStream 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.
Threats SodaStream External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats of SodaStream are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on SodaStream 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 (Nonalcoholic) industry and other sectors.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, SodaStream 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 SodaStream prominent markets.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, SodaStream may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Beverages (Nonalcoholic) sector.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for SodaStream in Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry. The Beverages (Nonalcoholic) 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.
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. SodaStream 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– SodaStream 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 (Nonalcoholic) 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 SodaStream in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry to Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry are lowering. It can presents SodaStream with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– SodaStream has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, SodaStream needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) 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.
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 SodaStream.
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. SodaStream needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Beverages (Nonalcoholic) industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 SodaStream business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of SodaStream Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers at SodaStream 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 SodaStream 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 SodaStream 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 SodaStream 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 SodaStream needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.