Strategic Analysis of Mystic Monk Coffee: A Case Study for MBA 7002

This case study analyzes Mystic Monk Coffee, a business venture initiated by Carmelite monks to fund the construction of a monastery. The analysis delves into the internal strengths, such as premium coffee bean utilization and a wide range of product offerings, and weaknesses, including less effective marketing and reliance on conventional machinery. An external environmental analysis, using Porter's Five Forces, identifies threats such as industrial rivalry and opportunities like expanding their reach. A SWOT analysis synthesizes these findings, informing the business level strategies, including mission, vision, and objectives. The report provides recommendations for improving marketing, embracing modern technology, and expanding the business's reach. The conclusion emphasizes the importance of strategic planning for the success of Mystic Monk Coffee, highlighting the impact of both internal and external factors. The report also includes references and a bibliography.

Running head: Case study analysis
CASE STUDY ANALYSIS: MYSTIC MONK COFFEE
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note:

1Case Study Analysis
Table of Contents
Introduction:...............................................................................................................................2
Analysis:.....................................................................................................................................3
Internal strength and internal Weaknesses:............................................................................3
Internal Strength –..............................................................................................................3
Internal Weakness –............................................................................................................3
External Environment:............................................................................................................4
Threat -...................................................................................................................................4
Opportunity –......................................................................................................................5
SWOT Analysis:.....................................................................................................................6
Strengths:............................................................................................................................7
Weaknesses:........................................................................................................................7
Opportunities:.....................................................................................................................7
Threats:...............................................................................................................................7
Business Level Strategy:........................................................................................................8
Mission –.............................................................................................................................8
Vision –...............................................................................................................................8
Objective –..........................................................................................................................9
Function level strategy –.....................................................................................................9
Recommendation and Conclusion:..........................................................................................10
Recommendation –...............................................................................................................10
Conclusion –.........................................................................................................................11
References................................................................................................................................13
Bibliography.............................................................................................................................15

2Case Study Analysis
Introduction:
Primary objective of this report is to investigate the case study of Mystic Monk
Coffee in order to elaborate the history and innovation in the business process of Mystic
Monk Coffee with the objective of the enhancement of the business process in order to
construct a Carmelite Monastery. According to the study Mystic Monk Coffee is introduced
in the catholic market for the betterment of the monk’s survival. However, this business is not
the main concern of the monks till the time Daniel Mary the father of Carmelite has realized
that they need monastery in order to provide shelter to at least 30 monks since they were 13
monks living in a small house engaged with their prayer and worship, with very less survival
facilities. Considering that fact father founded a plot of 496 acres with two three ready-made
buildings, which have enough space for 2 center retreat, a Gothic Church as well as a
convent. However, the plot is accurate for the Carmelite Monastery there is a financial
obstacle since the plot is of $8.9 million. The father have realized that however they have
donation amount of $250 thousand dollar it is not enough for purchasing the plot.
Considering this financial obstacle father along with the monks has decided to enhance their
coffee business in order to earn the rest amount of money since in the past they have earned
money from the coffee business even with less effective procedures. Considering these
factors the enhancement of the business strategies and products has been done. In order to
gather the report of the business strategies and their strength and faults this repost has
covered a detail analysis of their business progress using SWOT analysis, later on it has
determined the business competency threats of Mystic Monk Coffee by Porter’s five force
analysis. Later on this report has also consist of a brief elaboration of the business level
strategies which includes mission, vision function level strategy as well as objectives of the
mystic monk coffee business related to the finding off the SWOT analysis. Followed by this
report it also consist of recommendation section in which it has recommended strategic
approaches in order to mitigate the limitations founded in by the SWOT analysis and above
investigations. Lastly, it has concluded that this report has brief overview of the business
procedure of Mystic Monk Coffee, with an elaboration of the business strategies and the
influence of external environmental and internal environmental factors as well as the
provided recommendations.

3Case Study Analysis
Analysis:
Internal strength and internal Weaknesses:
According to the study of Mystic Monk Coffee it has been observed that considering
the objective of purchasing a plot of $8.9 million cost in order to construct a Carmelite
Monastery, father Daniel has decided to enhance the coffee business to earn money. A detail
elaboration is present below in order to determine the internal strength and weakness of their
business strategy.
Internal Strength –
The purpose of analyzing the internal strength of any organization or business is to
determine the benefits and advantages of the business service. Thus, an internal strength
analysis has been conducted in this case study of Mystic Monk coffee in order to identify the
benefits and strength of their business strategy.
A brief discussion of those findings are mentioned below:
 Utilization of premium quality coffee beans is one of the major benefits of the
business service of Mystic Monk Coffee. Since, followed by this aspect it has gained
significant trust from the catholic population United States.
 In order to earn more money they monks have decided to sale CDs, Gift cards,
Coffee mugs and T-shirt along with the coffee, which has influenced their customers
to a high extend.
 Another major benefits of their business service is the prize of their products are
comparatively low from the other service providers. Thus, the customers are more
attracted towards the service of Mystic Monk Coffee.
 Along with providing best quality product with less prize, the have also offered a
wide range of flavor in coffee, which has effectively influenced the customers across
the catholic population as well as the other population of United States.
 Along with all the above aspect a religious objective of this business has
exceptionally influenced the customers of United States, who has significant interest
towards the construction of Carmelite Monastery.

4Case Study Analysis
Internal Weakness –
The purpose of analyzing the internal weakness of any organization is to investigate
the disadvantages of any organization which may cause significant issues in the business
reputation as well as production. Thus, an analysis of internal weakness has been conducted
in the case study of Mystic Monk Coffee in order to determine the internal problematic area
which needs to be resolved with highest priority.
A detail discussion of the findings of this analysis is mention below:
 Due to less effective marketing strategies the business of Mystic Monk Coffee is
lacking behind the desired approach.
 The utilization of conventional machines are also one of the major draw backs of
Mystic Monk coffee which as directly affected the coffee production.
 Due to insufficient physical involvement in the business promotion, the monks are
unable to sale their products in the non- catholic population.
 Less involvement in the business process of the monks are also one of the significant
issue related to the production of the coffee as the monks have devoted them to the
god.
 Along with the above issues there is also a significant issue present related to the
religious view which has a direct impact on the financial state of this business. As
this business is based on religious aspect several non – catholic population opted to
restrict this product.
External Environment:
From a thorough investigation of the case study of mystic Monk Coffee, it has been
noticed that there are several external threats and opportunities present in the business field of
Mystic Monk Coffee. Thus, in order to analyze the external threats and opportunities an
external environmental analysis has been conducted which are mentioned below:
Threat -
The purpose of analyzing the external threat of any organization is to identify the
environmental threat factors which can have a huge impact on the organizational profit and
marketing. Thus, in order to determine the threat factors of the business service of Mystic
Monk Coffee an analysis has been conducted followed by Porter’s Five Forces model (E.
Dobbs 2014).

5Case Study Analysis
Description of the findings are mentioned below:
Power of Customer - According to Porter’s Five Forces this force represents the bargaining
power of the customers in which it has been noticed that how the customers are tend to buy
products with high quality by paying least amount of money (Dälken 2014). However,
Mystic Monk Coffee has less prize comparatively with the other brands, it has low possibility
of occurrence.
Power of Supplier – Considering the Porter’s Five Forces this is a representation of the
bargaining power of a supplier since all most every supplier wants to supply the least quality
product with highest payment (Fischberg et al. 2013). Since, the monks provides premium
quality product to the customers there is a low chance of this threat to occur.
Threat of Replacement – This force represent the threat factor of getting replaced by any
other brand (Takata 2016). Analyzing this case study it has been observed that since, this is
business has a religious prospective towards catholic population thus, other non- catholic
people can avoid this product. Based on the investigation this threat factor has a high
occurrence possibility.
Threat of new entrance – The threat factor of this force is moderate since Mystic Monk
Coffee has gained significant trust for their premium quality services there will be no such
impact on the business process if any new business enters (Porter and Heppelmann 2014).
Industrial Rivalry – Due to the religious prospective, the business of Mystic Monk Coffee
might face threat from other brands present in the coffee market as well as the production
ratio of their coffee it very less (Tansey, Spillane and Meng 2014).
Opportunity –
The purpose of analyzing this external factor is to determine the opportunity of any
business which helps to get an overview of the future scope of that business (Tanwar 2013).
Thus, in order to get a brief description on the opportunities of Mystic Monk Coffee an
analysis of external opportunities has been conducted. The findings are described below:
 While discussing about the opportunity factors of Mystic Monk Coffee it has been
noticed that with the application of less effective approaches their products have
earned trust since, using more effective approaches of production and marketing
Mystic Monk Coffee can expand their business to a high extend if the monks

6Case Study Analysis
concentrates on the overall population of United States since US population has a
significant interest towards the construction of Carmelite Monastery.
 Another opportunity has been observed since the US population are extremely
worried about their health and social aspect. According to the case study it has been
observed that monks uses best quality product and various flavor, thus there is a high
chance of getting more profit from the US population.
SWOT Analysis:
The purpose of a SWOT analysis is to determine the Strength, Weakness, Opportunity
and Threats of any organization which helps the administrator to consider the potential
impact of the success and failure on the business growth and manage the business process
accordingly (Yuan 2013). Thus, in order to analyze the potential impact of Mystic Monk
Coffee business a SWOT analysis has been conducted (Bohari, Hin and Fuad 2017). The
findings from the analysis are mentioned in the below table:

7Case Study Analysis
Strengths: Weaknesses:
Opportunities: Threats:
 Utilization of premium quality
coffee beans is one of the major
benefits of the business service
of Mystic Monk Coffee.
 Selling of CDs, Gift cards,
Coffee mugs and T-shirt along
with the coffee.
 The prize of their products are
comparatively low from the
other service providers
 It has also offered a wide range
of flavor in coffee, which has
effectively influenced the
customers.
 Less effective marketing
strategies.
 The utilization of conventional
machines.
 Insufficient physical
involvement in the business
promotion.
 Less involvement in the
business process of the monks.
 Religious prospective.
 Mystic Monk Coffee can
expand their business to a high
extend if the monks
concentrates on the overall
population of United States
since US population has a
significant interest towards the
construction of Carmelite
Monastery.
 Monks uses best quality product
and various flavor, thus there is
a high chance of getting more
profit from the US population
since the people over there are
highly concerned with the
 Power of Customer (low)
 Power of supplies (Low)
 Threat of replacement (High)
 Threat of new entrance
(Moderate)
 Industrial Rivalry (High)

8Case Study Analysis
Business Level Strategy:
The purpose of analyzing the business level strategy is to determine and specify the
business procedure, master plan and business objectives in order to achieve the effectiveness,
opportunity utilization, mitigating the threats and challenges, proper utilization of resources
(Wheelen et al. 2017). Thus, in this section here is a detail elaboration of the business level
strategies of Mystic Monk Coffee considering the finding from the SWOT analysis (David
and David 2013) .
Mission –
While investigating the business strategies of Mystic Monk Coffee several strengths,
weakness, threat as well as opportunities has been observed which has a direct impact on the
mission of the Mystic Monk Coffee. According to the case study the mission of the business
of Mystic Monk Coffee is to build a Carmelite monastery on a plot which cost about $8.9
million. The father of the Carmelite monks has observed that due to small space and lack of
facilities the monks are facing several problems. Thus, considering that their only earning
source is the coffee business he has decided to enlarge the business in order to improve the
business profit. However, after the conduction of SWOT analysis in the business procedure
of Mystic Monk Coffee various drawbacks has been observed related to the less effective
approach as well as inefficient contribution of the monks.
Vision –
The vision of the business of Mystic Monk Coffee is to develop a Carmelite
Monastery by improving the business strategies of the coffee production. Since, the father of
the Carmelite monks has realized that in order to provide a good shelter to the Wyoming
monks he needed enough space in which he can build a Monastery which will consist a
gothic church, 2 retreat as well as convent for the monk. With the vision of creating a
Carmelite Monastery the improvement in the business has took place. As in order to achieve
the vision of father Daniel has faced a huge financial obstacle, the approaches towards
improving the business model is not highly effective as by analyzing the vision of their
business there are several obstacles which can have a huge impact on the enhancement of the
business structure of Mystic Monk Coffee.

9Case Study Analysis
Objective –
Primary objective of this study is to construct a Carmelite monastery which will have
the facility of a convent, a gothic church as well as 2 retreat in order to provide shelter to at
least 300 monks. However, there is financial obstacle of $8.9 million which has affected the
construction of the Monastery as the monks does not has enough money to by a plot of
around $8.9 million. Whereas, considering the objectives of the Mystic Monk Coffee several
strategical obstacles have been observed such as less involvement of the monks in the
business process, application of conventional approach as well as the religious prospective.
However, apart from these obstacles they have opted for few effective strategies such as the
utilization of best quality resources, low prizing. Apart from that their approach towards
selling stuffs like coffee mugs, T-shirt, CDs and gift cards has made a significant impact on
the business success.
Function level strategy –
While analyzing the function level strategies of Mystic Monk Coffee it has been
noticed that the Carmelite has concentrated of the catholic population United States primarily
the people who has expressed interest towards the construction of Carmelite Monastery
(Rothaermel 2013). Based on the religious aspect it has tried to influence the population thus
it has helped the monks to a lot extend in order to earn money (Abraham 2013). Apart from
that they have introduced their offline product selling approach especially to the catholic
churches across united states (Drnevich and Croson 2013). One of the significant approaches
towards the utilization of premium quality coffee bean is also considered as a major
functional strategy of Mystic Monk Coffee (Hill 2017). Along with that the adoption of new
machines with high quality and an effective packaging style is also an effective function level
strategy of the coffee business of the Carmelite monks (Bharadwaj et al. 2013).
Recommendation and Conclusion:
Recommendation –
Based on the objectives and function level strategies of Mystic Monk Coffee, for the
purpose to reach their objectives, they must involve new system and strategic plan. As per the
enhancement idea of father, the incorporation of a trending roaster will help to maximize
their coffee production and it will offer variation in coffee roasting and blending as well
considering only one condition if the contribution of the monks is enough towards the work
process and work hours. With the purpose to purchase the plot of $8.9 million and build a

10Case Study Analysis
Carmelite monastery, the monks must utilize their maximum time to the production of coffee
rather than devoting themselves in the prayer and worship. The enhancement in the
packaging and the blending process can also help to improve their popularity in the market of
United States and in the Catholic population as well. Apart from this services of online and
offline coffee selling services the monks are recommended to advertise their product by
physically promoting to the church to church as well as to the local store. Since the Mystic
Monk Coffee spends about $128.820 in a year in the production, they must look into the
factors in which ration the profit amount should be increased. Improvement of the business
strategies also has a significant impact on the enhancement of the Mystic Monk Coffee
business.
Followed by the above discussion the major recommendations are mentioned below:
 Implementation of advanced methodology.
 Effective coffee blender.
 Enhancement of the marketing strategy.
 High capacity coffee roaster.
 Improvement of customer engagement except for the Catholic population.
 Packaging must be improved.
 Major incorporation of the monks towards the business process.
 They should expanded their marketing to a high extent.
These are the recommendations which need to be followed by the Monks of Wyoming in
order to achieve their target.
Conclusion –
Finally, it has been noticed from the analysis of the case study of Mystic Monk
Coffee, that the goal of the monks of Wyoming is to construct a Carmelite Monastery to
facilitate minimum 30 monks by providing them shelter stay and it will also consist of a
convent, 2 retreats as well as a gothic church by enhancing the business procedure of Mystic
Monk Coffee. Along with the history behind the Mystic Monk Coffee this report also consist
a comprehensive analysis of the business tactics of Mystic Monk Coffee which has helped to
determine the Strength, weakness, threat, and opportunities. The report has also a detail
analysis on the findings of SWOT analysis which has provided the observation on the
impactful strengths such as the utilization of the premium quality product and trust that they
have earned by selling the best quality product. Apart from the strengths, several limitations

11Case Study Analysis
are also been observed which must be resolved with the highest priority. Thus, it is
recommended to mitigate those limitations and the recommendation tactics are established
successfully in this report which includes the utilization of trending technology to improve
the business productivity, the variation of blenders and roaster will help to provide the user's
a wide variety of coffee to the US population who love to drink coffee. Along with that, the
enhancement in the marketing strategies must be implemented in the field of Mystic Monk
Coffee business. In order to increase the productivity and business profit of Mystic Monk
Coffee, thus it is suggested that the contribution of the monks in their business process must
be increased with the highest priority. Finally, it can be concluded that a brief over view of
this report will comprehensively help to understand the history and innovation of the
Carmelite monk’s coffee business, how it has come to the United States market and its
business level strategies. Since it has addressed an overview of the history and innovation of
Mystic Monk Coffee and it also consists of a SWOT analysis depended on the business
progress and strategic plan. Lastly, followed by the information gathered from the SWOT
analysis, effective solutions are also recommended in order to resolve that problem.

12Case Study Analysis
References
Abraham, S., 2013. Will business model innovation replace strategic analysis?. Strategy &
Leadership, 41(2), pp.31-38.
Bharadwaj, A., El Sawy, O.A., Pavlou, P.A. and Venkatraman, N., 2013. Digital business
strategy: toward a next generation of insights. MIS quarterly, pp.471-482.
Bohari, A.M., Hin, C.W. and Fuad, N., 2017. The competitiveness of halal food industry in
Malaysia: A SWOT-ICT analysis. Geografia-Malaysian Journal of Society and
Space, 9(1).
Dälken, F., 2014. Are Porter’s five competitive forces still applicable? A critical examination
concerning the relevance for today’s business (Bachelor's thesis, University of
Twente).
David, F.R. and David, F.R., 2013. Strategic management: Concepts and cases: A
competitive advantage approach. Pearson.
Drnevich, P.L. and Croson, D.C., 2013. Information technology and business-level strategy:
toward an integrated theoretical perspective. Mis Quarterly, pp.483-509.
E. Dobbs, M., 2014. Guidelines for applying Porter's five forces framework: a set of industry
analysis templates. Competitiveness Review, 24(1), pp.32-45.
Fischberg, D., Bull, J., Casarett, D., Hanson, L.C., Klein, S.M., Rotella, J., Smith, T., Storey
Jr, C.P., Teno, J.M., Widera, E. and Force, A.C.W.T., 2013. Five things physicians
and patients should question in hospice and palliative medicine. Journal of pain and
symptom management, 45(3), pp.595-605.
Hill, T., 2017. Manufacturing strategy: the strategic management of the manufacturing
function. Macmillan International Higher Education.
Porter, M.E. and Heppelmann, J.E., 2014. How smart, connected products are transforming
competition. Harvard business review, 92(11), pp.64-88.
Rothaermel, F.T., 2013. Strategic management: concepts. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Irwin.

13Case Study Analysis
Takata, H., 2016. Effects of industry forces, market orientation, and marketing capabilities on
business performance: An empirical analysis of Japanese manufacturers from 2009 to
2011. Journal of Business Research, 69(12), pp.5611-5619.
Tansey, P., Spillane, J.P. and Meng, X., 2014. Linking response strategies adopted by
construction firms during the 2007 economic recession to Porter’s generic
strategies. Construction management and economics, 32(7-8), pp.705-724.
Tanwar, R., 2013. Porter’s generic competitive strategies. Journal of business and
management, 15(1), pp.11-17.
Wheelen, T.L., Hunger, J.D., Hoffman, A.N. and Bamford, C.E., 2017. Strategic
management and business policy (p. 55). Boston: pearson.
Yuan, H., 2013. A SWOT analysis of successful construction waste management. Journal of
Cleaner Production, 39, pp.1-8.

14Case Study Analysis
Bibliography
Alsudiri, T., Al-Karaghouli, W. and Eldabi, T., 2013. Alignment of large project management
process to business strategy: A review and conceptual framework. Journal of
Enterprise Information Management, 26(5), pp.596-615.
Balsam, S., Jiang, W. and Lu, B., 2014. Equity incentives and internal control
weaknesses. Contemporary Accounting Research, 31(1), pp.178-201.
Bohari, A.M., Hin, C.W. and Fuad, N., 2017. The competitiveness of halal food industry in
Malaysia: A SWOT-ICT analysis. Geografia-Malaysian Journal of Society and
Space, 9(1).
Brooks, G., Heffner, A. and Henderson, D., 2014. A SWOT analysis of competitive
knowledge from social media for a small start-up business. The review of Business
information systems (Online), 18(1), p.23.
Bull, J.W., Jobstvogt, N., Böhnke-Henrichs, A., Mascarenhas, A., Sitas, N., Baulcomb, C.,
Lambini, C.K., Rawlins, M., Baral, H., Zähringer, J. and Carter-Silk, E., 2016.
Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats: A SWOT analysis of the
ecosystem services framework. Ecosystem services, 17, pp.99-111.
Choi, J.H., Choi, S., Hogan, C.E. and Lee, J., 2013. The effect of human resource investment
in internal control on the disclosure of internal control weaknesses. Auditing: A
Journal of Practice & Theory, 32(4), pp.169-199.
Laguna, M. and Marklund, J., 2018. Business process modeling, simulation and design.
Chapman and Hall/CRC.
Xingang, Z., Jiaoli, K. and Bei, L., 2013. Focus on the development of shale gas in China—
Based on SWOT analysis. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 21, pp.603-
613.