Gap Analysis, SWOT Analysis, and Needs Assessment

Mercedes Cantu

DeVry University

November 07, 2013

Professor Quovella Maeweather-Spruill

Gap Analysis, SWOT Analysis, and Needs Assessment

Company Information

The company quickly gained reputation for its high quality, a stance that increased the demand for its freshly roasted coffee. Today, the company markets more than $342 million worth of coffee and related products through a coordinated multichannel distribution network with both wholesale and direct to consumer operations. According to Pride and Ferrell (2010), this distribution design network has helped Green Mountain to maximize brand recognition and product availability. Further, the company roasts 100 varieties of high quality Arabica coffee beans and offers more than 100 selections of coffee such as certified organic coffee, single origin, and proprietary blends as well as flavored coffees. It sells more than 200 ground coffee selections, whole bean, teas, cocoa, and portion packs of K-cup among other products. According to Seeking Alpha (2013), the company had about 1,499 employees working fulltime and about 18 employees in part-time basis as at September 2009. The objective of the company is to achieve the highest market share in its target markets while maximizing company values in order to continue becoming a leading specialty coffee company.

SWOT

Strengths

Leading brand

Effective management

High quality of products

Weaknesses

International structure of the company

Narrow assortment of products

Risk of coffee availability

Opportunities

New distribution channels

Producing new product

Technological advances

Threats

Huge market competition

Changes of customer taste

Influence of international market policy

Besides, the MGCR Inc. should focus on developing feasible strategies of improving its performance in the market such as use of modern technology in its distribution and marketing channels. The introduction of e-business and e-commerce in its operations

Moreover, despite the numerous distribution channels and production of a variety of coffee products, Green Mountain has not maximized its technological potential by embracing some of the technological advancements in the corporate world today. For instance, e-business provides significant corporate opportunities today for companies intending to grow across the world. Therefore, the company needs to invest profoundly in e-business in order to expand its market to all parts of the world. In order to achieve this, Green Mountain needs to train employees to be electronic shrewd and imbue them with skills that can utilize the online platform to expand and reach the targeted market.

Needs Assessment

In order to carry out a training needs assessment on the gaps identified in the gap analysis section, I will use interviews to solicit information from employees of the company, managers, and the customers. My focus will be to find out whether employees support the issue of consolidation and e-business, as well as seeking for their contribution on what they think can be done well to address the gaps. In the interviews, I will also focus on finding out the type of training that will be most successful for the employees. The interviews will focus various questions but the following sample questions present the main point of inquiry:

Green Mountain has a plan to consolidate facilities in Montreal and Toronto with the one in Canada because they are not growing. Do you think this is the right way to go?

What do you think will be the impact of consolidation on employees particularly those working in the facilities?

Do you think the facilities lack the potential to grow or the skills required to amass the market and expand?

Do you think Green Mountain employees in those facilities have enough skills and expertise to spearhead growth?

How well has Green Mountain utilized the advanced technology?

Do you think e-commerce can help the company to expand its market?

Conclusion

As competition from other firms such as Starbucks became fierce, Green Mountain has a unique opportunity for competitive advantage taking into account its reputation, quality of products, and market power in the regions where it has opened distribution channels. However, this reputation is not enough to ensure its success in the targeted market. It must be coupled with the right employee training, skills, knowledge, and experience in order to achieve its corporate objective. Furthermore, the regulations governing international trade with coffee growers pose tremendous challenges for the proliferation of the company. The increasing economic challenges affected how much consumers are willing to pay for premium coffee, and lastly cultural factors may determine consumer preferences. For Green Mountain to continue triumphing in the market, Kelley and his executives must continually collect information about the marketing environment to provide the high quality products that consumer want.

References

Czinkota, M.R., & Ronkainen, I.A. (2007). International marketing. Belmont: Cengage

Learning.

Pride, W.M., & Ferrell, O.C. (2010). Foundations of marketing. Belmont: Cengage Learning.