COMM 101—COMMUNICATION IN THE 21st CENTURY Organizational An.docx

COMM 101—COMMUNICATION IN THE 21st CENTURY
Organizational Analysis of Power, Negotiation & Social Change
Description
Overview
Organizations move us. We identify as members of
organizations easily (I’m a Husker, a Tri-Delt, a Soprano, a
farmer, a firefighter), and it makes sense—we spend most of our
time living, breathing, and organizing with others.
Organizations are the places where we play (sports leagues,
hobbies), where we work (businesses, non-profits,
schools), where we recharge (places of non/worship and
mindfulness), where we heal (hospitals), and as this paper
analyzes, where we change or negotiate problematic aspects of
society (social movements, political parties, charities
or any of the previously noted groups). In this project, we are
asking you to focus your attention on how
organizations negotiate and change (inequalities) of power.
Embodying the ethic and metaphor of the “Organizational
Detective,” you are tasked with questioning, tracing, and
analyzing how an organization of your choice attempts social
change and the communication about or through
which that action functions. This isn’t an easy task; social

change can be a complicated, messy, and sometimes
awkward topic—which is exactly why we need to explore the
potentials and pitfalls that arise when this work is
done! This perspective is a bit of a shift in how we might
typically think of organizations generally—instead of
asking you to look at the communication used to manage an
organization or drive efficiency, we want you to think
about the social change communication that is organizing the
people, objects, and purposes of this group, as
well as the power imbued within those actions and its many
consequences.
Though this document spends most of its efforts describing
what this organizational analysis is, we want to take a
moment to describe what it is not. This is not an organizational
biography. Though the history of a company or
group and its inception are important generally, the goal of this
paper is to track down and analyze the current
communication and work that the organization is doing
about/for social change specifically. Furthermore, this is not
an analysis of just customer-provider relations. The focus of
this project is on the organization’s action toward social
change, not its efficiency status. And finally, this is not an
interview summary or reading report. This isn’t a
literature review. We want you to work towards following the

mystery of how social change is approached and to
articulate what your group creatively and critically sees as the
delightfully messy effects of this organization’s work
related to power.
Below, we outline in detail the requirements for this project, its
rubric, and a plan for successfully writing this
analysis.
Requirements
• 5 page group research report, doubled-spaced, 12pt Times
New Roman, 1 inch margins
• At least three credible sources utilized in the analysis: one
“internal,” one “external,” and one from either
• Needs to focus on an organization’s attempt at social change
• Must demonstrate understanding of communication’s
entanglement with power and its consequences
• Includes Appendix A, a one page group and self-evaluation
• Individual papers uploaded by each group member to
Blackboard by class time, March 17, 2017
• Brief (7 minute) group presentation about your findings on
due date
• 5 point deduction for not participating in group presentation
Picking an Organization

The organization and social change attempt you investigate is
up to your group. The group you choose does not
necessarily need to be a new organization to you all or one that
is located in Lincoln. Remember that the biggest
requirement is that your organization of choice is actively
participating or has at one time engaged in an issue
of social change. What exactly that “social change” looks like
varies greatly depending on the organization, but it
should be documentable and socially significant. To keep your
group on track, we recommend you pick your
organization early, quickly, and thoughtfully in this process to
ensure your group has plenty of time to work.
Research/Gathering Data (5-10% of the paper)
To conduct your analysis, you will need data or texts. From
these texts, you will closely read and interpret them as
evidence of how your organization’s attempts at social change
are going. One of the foundational perspectives in
communication studies is that different research questions
require different methodologies, or forms of research. As
such, your group might decide to do interviews with
organizational members, find videos of their social change
work, read their website or press releases for details, observe an

event or the organization at work, follow blogs of
those harmed or helped by the organization’s work on social
change, etc. Because organizations and organizing
communication occurs in many different places in our social
world, all of the data above (and more!) might prove
appropriate to conduct your analysis. Only 3 sources are
minimally required (C level work) when writing this
paper. One must be an internal source; one must be an external
source; and the last one can be either of these
two. All citations must be put into APA format and listed in a
reference page at the end of your paper. Below, we
differentiate between the two types of sources:
• Internal Source. This is a text, interview, set of observations,
or document that has been created by or
comes from the organization or its members. Internal sources
might be an organization’s website, an
interview with a member, a brochure from the org, or an
ethnographic observation conducted by your
group, for example.
• External Source. In contrast to internal sources, an external
source is an interview, document, set of
observations, or text that has not been made by the
organization. External sources include newspaper

articles, journal articles that describe certain organizational
practices that are applicable to your particular
case study, an oppositional group’s critiques of the
organization, and interviews with those served by an
organization (as opposed to its members), for example.
Structure
Due to the potential expansiveness of this project, we want to
provide a clear path for you to accomplish this
analysis. One way to imagine this paper is as a remix or
extension of our advocacy speeches. While we asked you in
your speech to establish a problem and its causes before giving
the audience your solution, this paper is following,
questioning, and analyzing how an organization has (or hasn’t)
gone through the same process: selecting a problem
and enacting their solution that ideally addresses its causes.
Your group will outline how an organization is
grappling with power to intervene in a social problem, as well
as that solution’s implications, shortcomings, and
ethical successes or failures.
Below, we describe each section of the paper in more detail.
A. Introduction (5-10% of the paper)
Much like a speech’s introduction, your paper should set the
stage for the analysis to come. Gain our

attention, briefly orient us to your topic, and clearly state your
group’s main argument or critical
interpretation surrounding your organization’s involvement with
a social problem. Illuminate why you
chose this specific organization and frame why it is worthy of
analysis for your readers; don’t forget to
preview your main points to come!
B. Methodology (5-10% of the paper)
This portion of the paper is about “showing your work.” Here,
your group should explain how it
approached collecting your data, texts, or sources for this
project. If you conducted interviews or
observations, explain who with, where, how long, and its topic.
If you are using written texts, you might
address how you decided the blogs or websites your
interpretation replies upon. This section lets us know
as readers what choices you’ve made as researchers, and it
should be clear enough that we could copy your
approach ourselves if we wanted to do your analysis over again.
Additionally, this section is an argument or
demonstration that you’ve made thoughtful, purposive choices
about your data or texts instead of just
conducting a surface level analysis, that your interpretations are

deep examinations instead of easy to draw
conclusions.
C. Social Change Issue (10-15% of the paper)
Describe the social problem your organization is attempting to
address. Give us a vision of the issue and its
impacts. From an outsider’s perspective (so not just using
information from your organization), evidence
why this is socially significant and the underlying imbalance of
power entangled in this social issue. In
addition to capturing this problem generally, make sure your
group includes multiple, potentially
conflicting viewpoints as you establish this social issue,
including voices like academic experts, those
working to change the problem, and those affected by the
problem themselves.
D. Organization’s Intervention (15-20% of the paper)
Now that we know some social problem or inequality exists,
explain what it is exactly your organization is
doing to change this problem. Beyond the actions that your
organization is carrying out, you need to also
think about how power is communicated in their work. Put
differently, you should tease out the

relationships and opportunities for agency built, decomposed, or
shifted through this organization’s work.
This might manifest itself in a variety of ways; some questions
you might ask of yourselves and of the
guide to guide your thinking might be some of the following:
Who is carrying out the social change, and by
what process was that decided? How is creativity and control
handled in this organization’s work? Who
gets to make decisions regarding the social change? Which
groups were (or weren’t) consulted before
enacting this social change?
E. Implications (25-35% of the paper)
After laying out the problem and your organization’s solutions,
the time has come to get creative, to
explore the potentially unintended effects this group is causing
while participating in social change.
Witnessing what you’ve gathered about the problem and your
organization’s chosen solutions, you as a
group might ask yourselves, “What did we learn about
organizational communication, negotiation, power,
and/or social change from this paper?” Other questions might
include things like, “Is this an effective,
democratic means of tackling this problem? Does this form of

social change actually address its causes?
Which voices are present in this work and why? Is the
organization actually accomplishing the goals they
believe they are? Why or why not? How are power differentials
affecting this group’s effectiveness or the
ending of the social problem? Which groups are empowered by
this social change? Which was
constrained? How might that limit their goals? Does this
organization create more social problems or
inequalities while attempting to fix this issue? What type of
world does this organization’s work build?”
While you obviously cannot address all of these questions in
your paper, our hope is they sensitive you to
the type of thinking, conclusions, and arguments you should be
making. Again, this is your own group’s
interpretation—this section of your paper should not read like a
checklist of answers to the questions above.
F. Evaluation (15-25% of the paper)
Finally, you will evaluate the organization and its foray into
social change. Yes, we have more question for
you, such as, “Is their approach successful or unsuccessful?
Why? How might this organization perform
more dialogic, equitable, democratic, community-centric, or
power-conscious forms of social change, if

need be?” Good organizational analyses also give tangible,
communication-based recommendations for the
organization to use in the future, so as a group, brainstorm,
think carefully about, and then provide your
own inventive suggestions on addressing issues related to your
organization’s social change attempt. We
want to caution you in this evaluation; this is not simply a
chance to say whether the organization is good
or bad; we are concerned with the intended and unintended
consequences of their actions and what those
DO, not how they should be VALUED. This is a chance for you
to demonstrate your critical thinking and
creativity as Organizational Detectives; utilize your distance
and critical lens as analysts.
G. Conclusion (5-10% of the paper)
Again, like a good speech, your conclusion should bring the
paper to a fulfilling close. Rearticulate the
main points of the paper, as well as your overall argument or
critical interpretation of your organization’s
social change attempt. Leave us with a memorable message or a
succinct feeling of finitude.
H. Appendix A (Not included in page count; 1 page)
While we’re confident everything will go smoothly and work

itself out in your groups, we want to know
your own experience as organizational members, especially if
there is some conflict. In Appendix A,
which you’ll attach at the end of your individually-uploaded
paper, we want you to answer the following
questions truthfully:
• Overall, how did the project turn out? What is the quality of
the work? What went well and what
didn’t?
• What, if anything, did you learn about organizations,
negotiating difference, communicative
approaches to analysis, and/or social change?
• Did everyone do an equal amount of work? If not, explain.
What portions and percentage of the
project did you (the person filling this out) complete?
• Were there any unresolved conflicts as group members?
• If someone were to do this project in the future, what advice
would you give them? What do you
wish you knew before starting this audit?
Assignment Format and Turn In
All outside sources (like an organization’s website or perhaps
news coverage) must be cited. Please put them in

APA format. If you need help with APA, use the Purdue OWL
as a first guide and then visit the UNL Writing
https://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/05/
http://www.unl.edu/writing/scheduling
Center. APA should be followed as a style guide throughout the
paper, shaping aspects like headings. Just add a
reference page at the end of your paper if you use outside
sources.
Each individual will need to upload their own copy of the paper
in Word format (no PDFs!) by the Due Date
(check syllabus for your due date). Make sure all group
members’ names are on the document and that
you’ve completed your individual Appendix A reflection!
Presenting Your Findings
In addition to crafting this smart analysis, we are asking you to
share your findings with the class. This is not a
formal presentation like our previous speech assignment.
Rather, this has more of a “show and tell” sort of feel. We
ask that you plan out who is going to say what before you come
to class, meaning all members of your group should
speak at some point in your presentation. Otherwise, how you
convey your project is up to you. No Powerpoint is
necessary, and your group should aim to speak for around 7
minutes. There are no notecard limits or restrictions of

that sort; we just ask you do not read your presentation, to be
organized, to have energy, to explain concisely, and to
keep a conversational tone.
Note: There is an individual 5 point deduction if you do not
speak during your group presentation This
means you cannot miss class and fail to present your group’s
findings. While your entire group will receive
the same grade for your paper, only those not in attendance or
who didn’t speak during the presentation will
be deducted for not completing this portion of the assignment.
http://www.unl.edu/writing/scheduling
Rubric
Group Members:
Area of Analysis {Poor-----Average-----Exceptional]
Introduction: _____/5 |---------------o---------------|
Introduces the thesis of the paper as well as the organization
being analyzed. Provides a general overview of the
organization and offers a thorough justification of why this
organization is worthy of analysis.
Methodology: _____/5 |---------------o---------------|
Students offer a detailed description of the chosen methodology
utilized within this analysis. If an ethnography, or

interview was used, students provide adequate information
about length of time observing or questions asked as well
as who the group/students communicated with. Students
provide the detailed communication put forth by the
organization itself as well as outside resources (meaning not
directly
Social Change Issue: _____/10 |---------------o---------------|
Group members articulate clearly the problem or issue their
organization is attempting to change. Discussion of the
social change includes viewpoints from all appropriate
members, stakeholders, or groups involved like those
affected by the inequality, leading experts on the topic, and the
organization itself. The scope, importance, and broad
significance of this issue is addressed.
Organization’s Involvement: _____/10 |---------------o------------
---|
The group clearly articulates how the chosen organization is (or
isn’t) involved in changing this issue. Group
members clearly define how power is related to this
conversation and their organization’s (in)action.
Implications and Evaluations: _____/10 |---------------o-------
--------|
Group members cohesively draw conclusions about what they
learned about the organization, social change, and/or
communication surrounding these topics. Critical evaluations of
the organization’s successful or unsuccessful

communication approaches towards this social change are
discussed.
Sources: _____/5 |----------------o-----------------|
Group used a variety of credible sources. Paper includes at least
one credible internal source, one credible external
source and one credible additional source. All sources are cited
in correct APA format both in the text and in the
references section of the paper. All sources are correctly cited
verbally in presentation.
Overall Critical Thought and Group Work: _____/5 |-----------
----o---------------|
Paper is well written, cohesive, proofread, and provides critical
analysis and reflection of the organization beyond
personal opinion. Total _____________/50
Sample Paper Outline Guide
I. Introduction
II. Methodology
III. Description of Problem or Issue of Social Change
IV. Organization’s Intervention into Social Change
V. Critical Implications of Organization’s Intervention into
Social Change
VI. Evaluation and Recommendations for Organization
VII. Conclusion
VIII. Appendix A
IX. References

Canopy Crowth Competitive Analysis
Canopy Growth Corporation is leader in the cannabis industry.
However, it has also had
its share of competitors, with a potential growth as Marijuana
becomes legalized around the
world. Today, Canopy’s largest competitors are Aurora
Cannabis, located in Bristish
Columbia,CA and Trulieve, located in FL,US. All three
companies operate as a healthcare or
consumer products industry and are licensed marijuana
producers.
Marketing Comparison
Products:
As the world’s largest legal cannabis distributor, Canopy
Growth has an extensive variety
of medicinal and recreational products to offer their consumers.
Tweed, the company’s original
brand, is recognized world-wide. In addition to cannabis, they
are well known for their CBD soft
gels. As previously stated, the company has been ambitious

from the beginning. Since it’s
inception, numerous additional brands operate under the Canopy
umbrella. Brands like DNA
Genetics and CraftGrow are dedicated to innovation in cannabis
market. Conversely, Spectrum
Therapeutics is Canopy’s world-wide medicinal brand focused
on patient education and the
simplification of purchasing medicinal cannabis products. (14)
Aurora Cannabis, Canopy’s rival in Canada, is a cannabis
company that focuses their
endeavors on supplying medicinal products.
Pricing:
Placement:
Promotion:
Current Business-Level Strategy (Jonathan)
(low providers?differentiators?how? Focus or niche players?
What segment?)
Financial Comparison
Sales:

Canopy continues to take the lead with 10,102 kilograms of
marijuana sales,
approximately four times the amount sold a year back. Their
growth continues to exceed with
stock prices over two times it’s competitors in the NYSE,
Canopy Growth takes the lead with
$20.45USD. Aurora’s listed as $3.70 and Trulieve as $10.14.
Additionally, Canopy Growth
Corporation has seen a net revenue of C$90.47M recently.(1)
Ending year June 2019, Aurora
has produced net revenue of C$247.9M, nearly $187.35M USD,
whilst Trulieve has seen
$57.9M, approximately C$75.8M, despite it’s earlier year
projections of $214M. The sales for
Aurora have surged to 349% increase and a production increase
of 920%.(2) Canopy has had a
yearly sales growth of 249% while Trulieve trailed back with a
130% increase in growth. For the
quarter as Aurora increased by 61%, Canopy saw a drop to -
4%.(3)
Profit:

However, Canopy’s high costs continue to rise along with all
their growth approximately
at a slightly faster rate. Canopy has seen a quick rise in costs in
just a year alone including
C$9.4M marketing costs that increased to C$44.9M and
C$11.1M in administrative costs which
increased to C$46.1M.(4) Due to Canopy’s increasingly high
costs, they are currently seeing no
profits, instead a hefty loss of C$-1,281,168,000, similarly to
Aurora.(5) The costs are being
significantly impacted by its production needs in property plant
and equipment, specifically,
assets in process, buildings, greenhouses, production and
warehouse equipment as well as costs
of subsidiary acquisitions. Additionally some other high
intangible costs are affecting the bottom
line significantly including operating licenses and intellectual
property costs. The investor
confidence is not high for Canopy Growth, nevertheless,
investors counter options are trailing
too far behind. With Canopy’s biggest competitor Aurora
selling only 6,999 kilos of marijuana.
Production capabilities in this sector have become increasingly
important as legalization opens

up consumer demand globally.
Aurora Cannabis has seen a total net revenue of C$247,939,000
and a net loss of
C$-290,837,000.(6) On the other hand Trulieve has seen a total
revenue of $57,920,112 and a net
income of $57,528,785. (7) Trulieve has been operating with a
total profit as opposed to a loss
like Aurora and Canopy. Although Trulieve has not seen a
bigger loss than top two Canadian
cannabis companies, Aurora and Canopy, this does not put
Trulieve at an advantage. it’s
production capabilities and innovation has been far less, with no
investments in Research and
Development compared to Canopy’s C$8,474,000 and Aurora’s
C$14,778,000 investment.
Market Share:
Aurora is valued at…, while Cronos and Tilray are valued at
5.8B and 3.5B respectively.
However, Canopy Growth is a clear leader with a 12.1B
valuation. Aurora and Canopy are neck

to neck in competition. Both seem to perform similarly with
large revenues and increasing
production costs, their growth as well as their trajectories seem
to be almost synced. As of
October 2019 Canopy’s recent fall to second place in this
quarter may be due to the departure of
CEO, Bruce Linton. On the other hand Trulieve may be seeing
the effects of states still not
legalizing marijuana for medical or recreational use. All
industries face some form of scare with
issues such as Vape health concerns currently arising. This is a
hurdle for all companies globally,
but is heavily being seen in the US for Trulieve. These concerns
could possibly be causing the
stunt in growth for many cannabis selling companies in the US,
compared to the massive growth
for Canadian companies.
(8)
Although there doesn’t seem to be sufficient information in the
share of the market by
each company, due to the mass amount of acquisitions
happening frequently and the novelty in

this industry, we discovered that Aurora has a market share of
20% in Canada. (9) Increased
competition has led to a difficulty in companies penetrating the
market and remaining strong,
lasting in this industry. It has also created a ban on inter-state
trading across the US, which is a
big concern for companies. (10) Nevertheless, there is a
discussion of the market share of
cannabis by product type. Most sales seem to be in the form of
Buds. This is due to the use for
smoking and affordability. However due to the unknown level
of consumption of CBD and THC
within buds, oils seem to be expected to grow faster. A market
that was predominantly used for
medical purposes, now sees a leveled market share with
cannabis as a recreational use. In 2025,
the use of cannabis recreationally is expected to surpass
cannabis for medical use.
(10)

(10)
Comprehensively, consumer confidence seems to be growing as
pot stocks continue to
rise in the market. The growth of marijuana demand is said to
increase as recreational marijuana
becomes legalized. However, this will be a battle of whose
production can keep up with an
expected growth in demand and so far, Canopy seems to be
advantageous in this aspect.
Value Chain Analysis
Canopy growth is North America’s lead producer of marijuana
that is legal. It was
formerly known as Tweed Marijuana Inc. And has become
famous for its rapid growth over the
years since its inception in 2013 by Chuck Rifici, Mark Zekulin
and Bruce Linton. The main aim
for its formation was to provide patients with affordable
medicinal Marijuana.
Value chain analysis refer to the process in which a firm
identifies its support and
primary activities and focuses on value addition of the final
product and the analysis of these

activities, therefore resulting in reduced cost or increased
differentiation of products. Potus value
chain model highlights the need to enhance primary activities
such as; inbound logistics,
operations, outbound logistics, sales and marketing and service,
and support activities such as
firm infrastructure, procurement, human resource management
and technology, so as to gain
profit in the long run.
From Canopy growth, we see that Canopy Growth was majorly
founded with an
objective of providing Cannabis patients with affordable
medicine. They adopted a concept
known as Compassionate Pricing, which has since become a
standard worldwide, and has
become something for other companies to bench mark. This
concept in the long run encourages
more sales for Canopy compared to competitors, thus yielding
higher profits. Another useful tool
for Canopy is the application of technology, in this case
biotechnology. This goes a long way in
improving its products and services, hence attracting more
customers and yielding more profits.

Also the fact that Canopy works with numerous brands, means
more diversification of products
and more profit, compared to other firms.
Over the years, Canopy has also managed to attract a lot of
sales, with 2018 recording the
highest revenues of $ 77.9, showing it is making profit relative
to other companies. The fact that
it was the first company in the Toronto stock exchange, and
later the first company at New York
stock exchange shows that these occurrences make it a pioneer,
hence Canopy growth has had a
large uncompleted opportunity to seek for investors, expand its
operations and yield more profit.
Assessment
(Understanding of primary competitors? Business strategies?
Strength and weaknesses?)

References
1. https://www.newcannabisventures.com/stock-cgc-twmjf-
canopy-growth-corp
2. https://www.ibtimes.com/marijuana-stock-aurora-cannabis-
posts-349-sales-growth-launc
hes-new-products-year-2827347
3. https://www.newcannabisventures.com/cannabis-company-
revenue-ranking/
https://www.newcannabisventures.com/stock-cgc-twmjf-canopy-
growth-corp/
https://www.ibtimes.com/marijuana-stock-aurora-cannabis-
posts-349-sales-growth-launches-new-products-year-2827347
https://www.ibtimes.com/marijuana-stock-aurora-cannabis-
posts-349-sales-growth-launches-new-products-year-2827347
https://www.newcannabisventures.com/cannabis-company-
revenue-ranking/
4. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/canopy-growth-shows-
surging-pot-sales-in-late-arri
ving-earnings-report-2019-02-14
5. https://www.canopygrowth.com/wp-
content/uploads/2019/08/Q1-FY2020-Financial-Stat

ements-Final.pdf
6. https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/ACB/financials?p=ACB
7. https://investors.trulieve.com/static-files/e3092d0d-5d97-
4d2b-be72-c1e53c24a9d2
8. https://disa.com/map-of-marijuana-legality-by-statel
9. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/aurora-cannabis-
earnings-show-big-growth-in-pot-s
ales-but-worrisome-profit-trend-2019-02-11
10. https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/us-
cannabis-market
11. https://craft.co/canopy-
growth/competitors?competitors=canopy-growth%2Corganigram
%2Ctts-pharma%2Ctilray%2Ccronos-group%2Caurora-cannabis
12. https://seekingalpha.com/article/4224627-canopy-growth-
cannabis-market-leader
13. https://www.fastcompany.com/90285740/how-canopy-
growth-became-the-jolly-green-gi
ant-of-cannabis
14. https://www.canopygrowth.com/brands/
15.
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/canopy-growth-shows-
surging-pot-sales-in-late-arriving-earnings-report-2019-02-14

https://www.marketwatch.com/story/canopy-growth-shows-
surging-pot-sales-in-late-arriving-earnings-report-2019-02-14
https://www.canopygrowth.com/wp-
content/uploads/2019/08/Q1-FY2020-Financial-Statements-
Final.pdf
https://www.canopygrowth.com/wp-
content/uploads/2019/08/Q1-FY2020-Financial-Statements-
Final.pdf
https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/ACB/financials?p=ACB
https://investors.trulieve.com/static-files/e3092d0d-5d97-4d2b-
be72-c1e53c24a9d2
https://disa.com/map-of-marijuana-legality-by-state
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/aurora-cannabis-earnings-
show-big-growth-in-pot-sales-but-worrisome-profit-trend-2019-
02-11
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/aurora-cannabis-earnings-
show-big-growth-in-pot-sales-but-worrisome-profit-trend-2019-
02-11
https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/us-
cannabis-market
https://craft.co/canopy-
growth/competitors?competitors=canopy-
growth%2Corganigram%2Ctts-pharma%2Ctilray%2Ccronos-
group%2Caurora-cannabis
https://craft.co/canopy-
growth/competitors?competitors=canopy-
growth%2Corganigram%2Ctts-pharma%2Ctilray%2Ccronos-
group%2Caurora-cannabis
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4224627-canopy-growth-
cannabis-market-leader
https://www.fastcompany.com/90285740/how-canopy-growth-
became-the-jolly-green-giant-of-cannabis
https://www.fastcompany.com/90285740/how-canopy-growth-
became-the-jolly-green-giant-of-cannabis
https://www.canopygrowth.com/brands/

CANOPY GROWTH
CORPORATION
The External Environment
INTRODUCTION
An organization's external environment is significant in that, in
many ways, it influences their
ability to succeed. Much of Canopy Growth’s vision is to
expansion. Therefore it is imperative to
understand how these external elements can encourage, as well
as hinder, their ambitions.
Implementing a PEST analysis is a simple, but very effective,
tool that allows an organization to
understand how political, economic, social, and technological
trends impact Canopy Growth and
the legal cannabis industry.
MACRO-ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
Political Influences
The most significant political influence for Canopy Growth
would be that of the Canadian

Government. Despite it being a multinational company, this is
where their operations began and
still primarily exist. When established, the laws surrounding
cannabis restricted the use of
cannabis for medicinal use only. After being elected in 2015,
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau took
an initiative to reduce criminality associated with sales of non-
regulated cannabis. As a result, in
October of 2018, the Cannabis Act has made the use of
medicinal and recreational cannabis legal
across all of Canada. This law limits the sales and production of
cannabis products to
organizations licensed by the government.
(7)
As previously stated, the Cannabis Act of 2018 was designed to
reduce criminality by restricting
cannabis access to minors (below the age of 18) and profits of
illegal distributors. Prior to the
law, illegal sales were estimated at CAN$6 billion, or $4.4
billion USD, a year.(5) Under the
law, one is legally allowed to possess no more than 30 grams of
legal cannabis products with a
THC level of .3% or more. Much like alcohol restrictions,

driving under the influence will also
result in serious consequences. Moreover, even if it is legal in
that country, it is illegal to cross
any national borders with cannabis products. This includes
bringing outside cannabis into the
country.(4)
In addition to these regulations for domestic consumption, the
Cannabis Act has restrictions
pertaining to importing and exporting cannabis products.
Importing is strictly restricted to
“starting materials” for new licensee’s. Exporting is limited to
medicinal products or scientific
research in countries/states where it is legal. Additionally, the
producer has to have a permit for
exporting in addition to all other permits required as a legal
distributor. Permits are given after
careful and strict consideration by Health Canada. They are
careful to not break any obligations
set forth by treaties and ensure exports are in line with the
regulations of the Cannabis Act.(6)
As strict as the government and lobbyists have been about who
and how individuals are allowed

to buy and sell, there appears to be a disconnect in how the
cannabis industry operates in regards
to the safety of their environment. Many consumers complain
about the excessive packaging
used by legal distributors. This is a direct result in the
guidelines created by Health Canada.
Before legalization, much of cannabis products were sold in
plastic bags that were easy to
dispose of but made access easier to young children. Under the
new laws, packaging must be
able to prevent any contamination to the product, tamper-proof,
and child-proof. The containers
used now are described as large plastic containers that are
disproportionate to the amount of
cannabis inside. This is due to all of the required information
that are required by law to be
printed on the package. These strict regulations make it
incredibly difficult for distributors to
provide containers that are more environmentally friendly. This
has had an impact on whether or
not someone will buy from a legal distributor.(8)
Economic Issues

(9)
Currently, Canada has an economic freedom score higher than
any other American regions and
above world-wide averages at 77.7. Having the 10th largest
economy, the government is focused
on trade diversification, increasing exports, as well as
supporting their domestic industries small
and large. According to the 2019 index of economic freedom,
“Canada’s economic
competitiveness has been sustained by the solid institutional
foundations of an open-market
system and a high degree of regulatory efficiency.” (9)
(11)
The cannabis industry is fairing well since legalization in 2018.
This “Budding Market”(10) has
seen an increase in usage since legalization. As it is a newer
industry, it should come as no
surprise that it is estimated to provide new jobs and boost local
economies. This is evident in the
amount of licenses issued since legalization. Moreover, it is
anticipated that the Canadian

government will collect $400 million annually from taxes levied
on sales of cannabis at $10 a
gram. (11) However, the high levels of taxation can be
detrimental to Prime Minister Trudeau’s
intent on reducing criminal activity in relation to cannabis
products. . The heavier the tax rate
imposed on retailers, the likelihood that customers will turn to
illegal sources. This can be seen
in the state of California, where legal distributors are plagued
by taxes that make it impossible to
compete with the black market.(12)
Socio-cultural Trends
Cannabis has been used in many cultures as medicine and other
aspects for thousands of years,
as early as 10,000 B.C. in China. Due to the opium epidemic
and surge in alcohol consumption
post Civil War in 1800’s, there were increased concerns of mind
altering drugs and effects of
similar products. Consequently, other drugs were also
categorized as harmful products, including

marijuana and has become illegal since 1937. In the 1930’s a
film was even produced to teach
the public about the dangers of marijuana which skewed the
public perception even further. In
1970, it was officially listed as a Schedule I substance in the
U.S. Controlled Substances Act.
Since then for almost 90 years the opinion of marijuana as a
whole in the eye of the public was
similar to the views of psychedelic drugs as detrimental and
sometimes even fatal products.
However, this stigma soon began to change, giving way for a
new view on cannabis. As the
potential medical benefits of marijuana became more
publicized, the perspective of marijuana
changed. There was a significant shift in consumer perspective
over cannabis as well as
government policy as more knowledge developed. In just 50
years, the amount of Americans
who believed marijuana should be legalized increased five times
as much, up to 62%. This plant
is now widely accepted for patients with chronic pain and
seizures. Change in consumer values

for more authentic, transparent, natural lifestyles supported the
movement towards accepting
marijuana use. (3)
Soon enough once illicit substance, became legalized in over 33
states, of which 10 states allow
recreational use of marijuana, with rapid growth of marijuanas
popularity, breaking it’s previous
stigma. CBD’s, a natural compound within cannabis plants,
gummies today are the third most
researched food term on Google. It
also comes in many forms, continuing to win consumer
popularity. This industry has grown
tremendously in a short period of time and continue to see
support from other companies,
winning heavy investments. In 2018 the industry for legal
marijuana in the U.S. consisted of
$10.4 billion and 250,000 jobs, expected to increase to $17.5
billion in 2030. Worldwide,
cannabis spending is expected to reach $66 billion in 2025.
Overall, the consumer and
investment views are strong, projecting a large increase in the

medical marijuana industry and a
significant increase in legal cannabis spending.
(2)
Technological Trends
Technology is a major player for the future of this industry. An
industry that is in its early phases
and whose previous illegal sales consisted of predominantly
cash sales, companies can now
better understand cannabis consumers purchasing habits with
new technologies like software as a
service (SaaS). This also enables the industry to properly track
products, which was otherwise
not possible previously.
Additionally, the cost of growing cannabis is relatively high,
which is why technological
innovations as small as LED lights spectral tuning, improved
hydroponics and Tesla’s
Powerback solutions are revolutionary to the marijuana
industry, giving companies more control
over production. Biosynthesis has also paved the way for
efficient extraction techniques that

allow for better on-demand production. Seeing that sales and
consumer confidence are expected
to increase, efficient production is key go meeting a rapid
growing demand. Some technological
innovation now facilitate the at home use of marijuana. This
includes products like infusers,
vaporizers, smart grow boxes, and more (1). As technologies
like AI, machine learning and
blockchain continue to grow, we may see it’s application in the
cannabis industry, especially
within production.
INDUSTRY STRUCTURE ANALYSIS
Porter's Five Forces Analysis
The cannabis industry has not been fully exploited to maximum
potential due to the legal barriers
in place. However, Canopy Growth Corporation has been able to
operate within the legal
jurisdictions in North America. This paper shall, therefore,
discuss the company's business policy
that has harnessed its growth.
Competition

The company was faced with various barriers of entry at the
beginning. At first, cannabis was
not a legal drug in Canada. These legal issues made it hard for
the company to obtain permits for
the production and sale of cannabis. However, the company
received a breakthrough when
marijuana was legalized for recreational use (Cox, 2018).
Canopy Growth has a great deal of
competition the company must look out for. One of the main
competitors is Aurora Cannabis
because Aurora so far have been 20 percent of the marijuana
market in Canada. Also they
produced over 700,000 kilograms per year. Another competitor
that Canopy Growth must watch
out for is Cronos Group because Cronos used to be on top of the
race to become the alpha
company but due to being to slow on establishing assets, it lost
its lead. Canopy Growth has to
make sure they are selling products that the other companies
don’t have. Also since the
Marijuana is an upcoming market, focusing on getting
curious/new customers should be a

priority to make them become loyal consumers.
Suppliers
Canopy Growth has lot of suppliers which makes supplier power
low due to Canopy’s
ability to just switch suppliers. Due to high demand of the
marijuana industry, suppliers
have to be very reasonable with Canopy Growth in order to
achieve profits, which also
causes suppliers to have less power. Canopy Growth just needs
to find the right suppliers
that has low costs but due to its abundance of suppliers, using
different suppliers
shouldn’t be a problem. The company's wide range of products
is also a strength that has
allowed the company to generate more revenue and therefore
strengthening its position
in the cannabis industry. Canopy Growth Corp has since
ventured into a global market
and thus diversifying its operations.
Buyers
Having products that are unique from others should be a top
priority for Canopy Growth because
in this industry, having someone hooked on your products will

get you more buyers. If a
customer likes the product, they will buy it in bulk, because it’s
marijuana, and it will make it
harder for the customer to ever switch if the quality is top
notch. Since the buyer will buy the
products in bulk, prices shouldn’t be a problem due to the
demand and quality. Canopy Growth
should highly market and make sure it’s product are unique to
build a large foundation of loyal
customers. Doing so will provide a lot of sales and henceforth a
profit.
New Entrants
The threat of new entrants isn’t a big problem for Canopy
Growth because the industry it’s in is a
hard industry for new entrants to come in. This is due to the fact
of the government heavily
regulating laws for marijuana and the fact that Canopy Growth
sells differentiated products
instead of standardized products. If Canopy Growth keeps using
it’s competitive advantage it has
and keep having unique products, new entrants would have a lot
of trouble competing against

them. Canopy Growth Corp has been able to overcome threats
of new entry. Besides, by
producing raw materials, the company has been able to deal
with supplier power. The buyer
power of the Canadian people has also been exploited.
Substitutes
A threat of substitutes would be the Illegal Marijuana Markets
because if the prices are better
there then customers would hesitate to get products from
Canopy Growth. To stop that from
being a big threat, Canopy Growth needs to make sure it’s
products are great quality especially
more then the illegal products, also having unique products that
only Canopy Growth can
produce, will make it harder for customers to find an
alternative.
Porter Five Forces for Canopy was Growth
CONCLUSION
With the strong political support for legalized cannabis usage in
Canada, and the continued
efforts to increase legalization in the U.S., Canopy growth has

major potential to maintain their
industry advantage. As the industry continues to grow, there
will be higher demand for
marijuana and other cannabis products. Economically, it makes
sense for them to increase their
efforts to maintain their sympathetic pricing model so that they
are competitive with black
market distributors and satisfy government regulations.
Biotechnology will be necessary for
companies to keep up with rapid changes. Intellectual Property
will also be a growing concern as
new players continue to be attracted to the industry. As this can
start becoming a commodity, this
will be a huge risk for cannabis companies. Additionally, higher
demand in this new and
evolving industry will require FDA understanding and steeper
regulation.
REFERENCES
1. https://www.digitaltrends.com/home/marijuana-tech-for-
home/
2. https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tech-solve-cannabis-industry-

biggest-233000787.html
3.
https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/111015/future-
marijuana-industry-ameri
ca.asp
4. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-
medication/cannabis.html
5. https://amp.dw.com/en/canadas-cannabis-industry-just-
beginning-to-bud/a-49824389
6. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/cannabis-
regulations-licensed-producer
s/import-export.html
7. https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-
medication/cannabis/producing-s
elling-hemp/about-hemp-canada-hemp-industry/statistics-
reports-fact-sheets-hemp.html
8. https://globalnews.ca/news/4581623/excessive-cannabis-
packaging/
9. https://www.heritage.org/index/country/canada
10. https://vancouversun.com/cannabis/cannabis-
culture/cannabis-trends/cannabis-consumpti
on-on-the-rise-in-canada-since-legalization-study
11. https://ocannabiz.com/archives/24589

12. https://globalnews.ca/news/5403579/cannabis-taxes-
brought-in-186-million-in-five-and-a
-half-months/
https://www.digitaltrends.com/home/marijuana-tech-for-home/
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/tech-solve-cannabis-industry-
biggest-233000787.html
marijuana-industry-america.asp
marijuana-industry-america.asp
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/drugs-
medication/cannabis.html
https://amp.dw.com/en/canadas-cannabis-industry-just-
beginning-to-bud/a-49824389
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/cannabis-
regulations-licensed-producers/import-export.html
https://www.canada.ca/en/health-canada/services/cannabis-
regulations-licensed-producers/import-export.html
medication/cannabis/producing-selling-hemp/about-hemp-
canada-hemp-industry/statistics-reports-fact-sheets-hemp.html
medication/cannabis/producing-selling-hemp/about-hemp-
canada-hemp-industry/statistics-reports-fact-sheets-hemp.html
https://globalnews.ca/news/4581623/excessive-cannabis-
packaging/
https://www.heritage.org/index/country/canada
https://vancouversun.com/cannabis/cannabis-culture/cannabis-
trends/cannabis-consumption-on-the-rise-in-canada-since-
legalization-study
https://vancouversun.com/cannabis/cannabis-culture/cannabis-

trends/cannabis-consumption-on-the-rise-in-canada-since-
legalization-study
https://ocannabiz.com/archives/24589
Canopy Growth Corporations
A Company with High Ambitions
As North America’s leading producer of legal marijuana,
Canopy Growth Corporation has
always been ambitious. Canopy, formerly Tweed Marijuana Inc.
was founded by Bruce Linton,
Mark Zekulin, and Chuck Rifici in 2013 with the objective of
providing affordable medicinal
cannabis to patients. Their concept of “Compassionate Pricing”
would become a standard
industry-wide. This is just one of the few benchmarks the
company has set.
In 2014, Tweed became the first publicly-traded cannabis
company in North America with stock
being traded on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The following
year, the company purchased an
abandoned Hershey factory in Ontario, where they still operate
to this day. Later in 2015, the
company grow from“..a singular enterprise to a multi-branding
holding company that can focus

on diversified markets.” and changed their name to Canopy
Growth Corporations. In 2018,
Canopy Growth Corporations achieved another first when there
were the first cannabis company
to have the shares made available on the New York Stock
Exchange.
Figure 1. International Footprint (Canopy Growth 2018)
Currently, Canopy Growth has a total of 11 operating facilities
in Canada in addition to their 10
other facilities in places such as Poland, Columbia, and
Denmark. And, by partnering with
numerous brands, they are able to provide their customers with
a wide variety of medicinal and
recreational products such as “dried flower”, oils, concentrates,
supplements, and hemp.
The company's current mission is to elevate the experiences of
its medical and recreational
consumers, and drive the biotechnology industry forward. This
well-articulated statement clearly
defines the purpose of the company. Moreover, it’s realistic and
motivating. The main focus is

on satisfying the needs of the recreational and medicinal
customers as opposed to the company’s
products. Customer experience is a key factor for a company’s
growth. since if a company meets
and exceeds customer expectations by delivering quality
products as promised, the company is
destined for growth and success. Additionally, the company’s
emphasis on their aspirations in
the biotechnology industry reinforces their desire for continued
growth and innovation. It can,
therefore, be concluded that this mission statement is quite
effective.
The vision of Canopy Growth Corporation is to be a leading
cannabis company in the globe.
While this statement is clear and describes the company's
desired future state. The statement is
broad and lacks distinctiveness as it can be applied by any
organization in the cannabis industry.
The company would have taken another step to align its
intended efforts to complement this
vision. Surprisingly, the Mission Statement is more
inspirational. A more effective vision

statement would have expanded on this. Currently, it’s too
generalized and so the company
might scatter its efforts into other goals not aimed at supporting
this vision statement. This can
inhibit the company’s direct progress toward this vision.
Canopy Growth’s values are aligned with Corporate Social
Responsibility. Their values
statement is as followed. “Canopy Growth is committed to being
a responsible member of our
community and industry wherever we operate. We pride
ourselves on investing in and being the
leader in creating solutions to cannabis-related issues. Now that
we’re on the verge of legal
access to regulated, recreational cannabis, we’re stepping up to
do our part to ensure education
and responsible use are at the forefront of the cannabis
conversation.” This statement is lengthy
but hit all of the right notes. Canopy Growth is determined to
find solutions to cannabis related
problems and had made strategic partnerships in to have their
goals realized. They have
partnered with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and Canadian
Drug Policy Coalition. Another
alliance is with Parent Action on Drugs (P.A.D). It is important

that their customers and
investors know that they are passionate about growth in their
industry as well as educating and
corporate social responsibility. This statement is supported by
their numerous alliances. Thus it
is quite effective.
The performance of Canopy Growth Corporation over the last
five years has increased
tremendously. According to Bloomberg data, in 2014, the
company reported sales of $3.4 billion.
In 2015, the revenue reported sales of $7.7 million. In 2016,
there was an increase in sales as the
recreational market expanded and the company had $12 million
in revenue. At the end of 2017,
the company’s revenues rose considerably to $39.9 million
following an increase in the purchase
of medicinal cannabis units (Kristine, 2019)..
The year 2018 saw an increase in the amount of cannabis
harvested and revenues rose to $ 77.9
million. In 2019, the company hopes to achieve an extreme
increase in revenue earnings

following its expansion into the skin care market. In an
interview with Susan (2019) of
Bloomberg News, the company's CEO Bruce Linton stated the
company's team productivity has
been quite impressive over the last five years and this has been
a contributing factor to Canopy’s
success. Despite it’s increase in revenues, Canopy Growth
Corporation continue to report losses
and investors continue to question the company’s profitability,
resulting in the termination of
Co-founder, Bruce Linton. Canopy’s lack of profitability is due
to its focus on investing in long
term growth, keeping an entrepreneurial mindset in a rapid
growing market, which resulted in its
phenomenal 90 patents and continued revenue growth,
forecasting the company to have large
future rewards and market share.
References
● Canopy Growth Corporation. Retrieved from

www.canopygrowth.com
Freeman, S. (2016). Canopy Growth Corporation to acquire
Mettrum for $430
M-making a mega-company serving half Canada’s medical pot
users. Retrieved
June 28, 2017
● Kristine Owram (2019). Canopy Analysis. Retrieved from
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-08-15/canopy-
shares-tumble-as-a
nalysts-surprised-by-declining-revenue
● Paul Monica (2019).Canopy’s cannabis business growth.
Retrieved from
https://edition.cnn.com/2019/02/15/investing/canopy-growth-
cannabis-earnings/in
dex.html
● Susan Berfield (2019). Canopy’s Bruce Linton. Retrieved
from
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2019-canopy-cannabis-
bruce-linton-canada-
weed/
● Canopy Growth. (2019, September 11). Retrieved from
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canopy_Growth

● Our Story. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.tweed.com/en/our-story
● Marijuana company heads to New York Stock Exchange.
(2018, October 25).
Retrieved from
http://www.canopygrowth.com/
http://www.canopygrowth.com/
shares-tumble-as-analysts-surprised-by-declining-revenue
cannabis-earnings/index.html
bruce-linton-canada-weed/
https://wtop.com/business-finance/2018/10/marijuana-company-
heads-to-new-yor

k-stock-exchange/
● Our Story. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.canopygrowth.com/about/
● Corporation, C. G. (2018, December 23). Tweed Marijuana
Inc. Renamed Canopy
Growth Corporation. Retrieved from
https://www.newswire.ca/news-releases/tweed-marijuana-inc-
renamed-canopy-gr
owth-corporation-528475771.html
heads-to-new-york-stock-exchange/
heads-to-new-york-stock-exchange/
https://www.canopygrowth.com/about/

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