Strategy

Session 3: Business-level Strategy & Organigram Case

Agenda

• Organigram case

 Deadline for team formation is gone

 Deadline for company selection now
Organigram case
Questions

1. Conduct an external analysis of the Canadian

cannabis industry (incl. the general environment
and industry environment) as it was at the time
of the case AND what you think it would look like
after the legalization of recreational cannabis
General environment (at time of case)

Which dimensions should be monitored the closest?

Questions

2. Conduct an internal analysis of Organigram

Questions

3. What possible scenarios might Organigram

face in the next 5 years (from the time of the
case) and how would it influence their
strategic decisions?
Influence of possible scenarios (5 years after case)

What possible new products could it focus on?

• in case recreational cannabis is not approved

• in case recreational cannabis is approved

Conclusions

• Decision-making and strategy development in times of change and

uncertainty are hard and complex, especially with limited available data

• Scenario planning can help

• What we identified are actions to potentially take in different scenarios,

not strategy
Follow-up questions

• How should Organigram position

itself in the market for recreational
cannabis/edibles? i.e., What should
its business-level strategy be?
Update
• Recreational cannabis legalized on Oct. 17, 2018
• Edibles became legal on Oct. 17, 2019
• Shortages were an issue
• Everyone preparing for edibles (M&A)
• Organigram
• Partnership with Trailer Park Boys (underage)
• More info on company
• More on industry and Organigram ops (edibles)
• Internationalizing
• Recent disappointing performance (demand, earnings)
 Update
• “Based on a recent survey of Canadian cannabis consumers conducted by Organigram, convenience, price
and quality are the top three considerations that drive consumers to purchase from the illicit cannabis
market.”

• “Legal cannabis was obtained in the past year by over half (53%) of cannabis users, through sources
including retailers (55%), online (46%), medical providers (17%), and homegrown cannabis (6%), signalling
new opportunities in retail for a whole new category. However, legal cannabis in Canada came under
criticism for being close to 60% more expensive than illegal cannabis for the most part, and not being
able to match supply with demand in most provinces.”

• Ontario, home to a population of 14 million residents, hosted only about 24 stores in 2019, while Alberta’s
had 300+ stores for a population of 4 million  Huge differences between provinces in the way
distribution/retail is handled (e.g. independent vs government-owned stores)
More info: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BzbOe-04sU8
Update

• Increasing alliance and (partial) acquisition activity with

• Pharmaceutical companies
• Beverage companies
• Tobacco companies
Largest LPs market capitalizations over past 12 months
PWC report: https://www.pwc.com/ca/en/industries/cannabis/pwc-cannabis-series-chapter-1-the-cannabis-landscape.html
Next session
• Interaction between BL strategies and 5 forces
• Blue Ocean Strategy (next Monday)
• Article available online through library

• Coopers Brewery case (next Monday)

• Link to download case on Moodle
• Questions to prepare for the discussion on Moodle

• Competitive strategy (intro)

 Deadline for team formation is gone

 Deadline for company selection now