Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike
This case describes the situation Pierre Godfroid encountered when he took over as Sabena's CEO in 1991. At that time, Sabena was in crisis facing imminent bankruptcy. On the strength of a restructuring plan, developed by Godfroid and his staff, the Belgian government had agreed to bail out the airline in return for assurances that this would be the last time government assistance would be requested. Godfroid's task was to transform the company into a viable private enterprise. The case provides the opportunity to evaluate the viability of Godfroid's strategy and more generally to explore strategy formulation in a global industry. More importantly, it sets the stage for a sequence of follow-up cases (994M04, 994M05, 994M06, 994M07, 994M08) dealing with the implementation of the strategy. (A 43-minute video, broken into segments to coincide with the case series, can be purchased with the case, video 794M03.)
Swot Analysis of "Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike" written by Mary M. Crossan, Barbara Pierce includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Godfroid Godfroid's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate governance, International business, Policy and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
wage bills are increasing, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Godfroid Godfroid's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Godfroid Godfroid's 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 Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Godfroid Godfroid's
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Godfroid Godfroid's
Strengths Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Godfroid Godfroid's in Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Godfroid Godfroid's is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Mary M. Crossan, Barbara Pierce can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Godfroid Godfroid's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Godfroid Godfroid's 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Godfroid Godfroid's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Godfroid Godfroid's 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 Godfroid Godfroid's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Godfroid Godfroid's has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Godfroid Godfroid's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Godfroid Godfroid's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Godfroid Godfroid's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Godfroid Godfroid's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Godfroid Godfroid's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Godfroid Godfroid's is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Godfroid Godfroid's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– Godfroid Godfroid's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Weaknesses Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Godfroid Godfroid's 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike, it seems that the employees of Godfroid Godfroid's don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Godfroid Godfroid's 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Godfroid Godfroid's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Godfroid Godfroid's has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Godfroid Godfroid's supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Godfroid Godfroid's vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike, in the dynamic environment Godfroid Godfroid's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Godfroid Godfroid's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Godfroid Godfroid's 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike HBR case study mentions - Godfroid Godfroid's takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Godfroid Godfroid's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Godfroid Godfroid's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Godfroid Godfroid's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Godfroid Godfroid's has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Opportunities Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Godfroid Godfroid's 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, as suggested in case study, Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Godfroid Godfroid's in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Manufacturing automation
– Godfroid Godfroid's can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People segment. 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.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Godfroid Godfroid's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Godfroid Godfroid's to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Godfroid Godfroid's 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 Godfroid Godfroid's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Godfroid Godfroid's can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Godfroid Godfroid's 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Godfroid Godfroid's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Godfroid Godfroid's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Godfroid Godfroid's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Godfroid Godfroid's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
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 Godfroid Godfroid's 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Godfroid Godfroid's 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.
Threats Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike are -
Environmental challenges
– Godfroid Godfroid's needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Godfroid Godfroid's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Godfroid Godfroid's high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
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 Godfroid Godfroid's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Godfroid Godfroid's 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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Godfroid Godfroid's 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 prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Godfroid Godfroid's 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 field.
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 Godfroid Godfroid's in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike, Godfroid Godfroid's may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Godfroid Godfroid's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Godfroid Godfroid's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Godfroid Godfroid's needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Godfroid Godfroid's needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Godfroid Godfroid's 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 the industry and other sectors.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike 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 the case study Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike 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 the Harvard case study Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike 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 Sabena Belgian World Airlines Strike is 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 Godfroid Godfroid's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.