Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A)
Intended to advance understanding of corporate responsibility in the context of a bankruptcy decision. The case documents the implementation of a turnaround plan for financially ailing Braniff International. This includes a new marketing and operations strategy, concessions from labor, changes in management, and a financial restructuring. The narrative describes the worsening financial condition of the company and the choices made by the CEO and CFO to raise cash and avoid filing. These choices and events led to progressively limited options. It was decided that attempting to reorganize under Chapter XI of the Bankruptcy Reform Act was preferable to being placed into involuntary bankruptcy under Chapter VII. This required keeping preparations secret and eventually filing by surprise.
Authors :: Kenneth E. Goodpaster, David E. Whiteside
Swot Analysis of "Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A)" written by Kenneth E. Goodpaster, David E. Whiteside includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Braniff Bankruptcy facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Reorganization, Social responsibility and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, geopolitical disruptions, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Braniff Bankruptcy, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Braniff Bankruptcy 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 Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Braniff Bankruptcy
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 Braniff Bankruptcy
Strengths Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Braniff Bankruptcy in Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Braniff Bankruptcy has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Braniff Bankruptcy to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Braniff Bankruptcy 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 Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Braniff Bankruptcy digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Braniff Bankruptcy has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Learning organization
- Braniff Bankruptcy 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 Braniff Bankruptcy is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Braniff Bankruptcy has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Braniff Bankruptcy is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Braniff Bankruptcy has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Braniff Bankruptcy has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Diverse revenue streams
– Braniff Bankruptcy is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Strong track record of project management
– Braniff Bankruptcy is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Braniff Bankruptcy are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Braniff Bankruptcy
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Braniff Bankruptcy does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Braniff Bankruptcy in the sector have low bargaining power. Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Braniff Bankruptcy to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Braniff Bankruptcy has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Braniff Bankruptcy is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Braniff Bankruptcy needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Braniff Bankruptcy to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Braniff Bankruptcy, firm in the HBR case study Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Braniff Bankruptcy has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A), it seems that the employees of Braniff Bankruptcy 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Braniff Bankruptcy needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) HBR case study mentions - Braniff Bankruptcy 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) 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 Braniff Bankruptcy 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Braniff Bankruptcy 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Braniff Bankruptcy 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 Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) | 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 Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) are -
Buying journey improvements
– Braniff Bankruptcy can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Braniff Bankruptcy 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Braniff Bankruptcy 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 Braniff Bankruptcy to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Braniff Bankruptcy 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Braniff Bankruptcy can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Braniff Bankruptcy operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Braniff Bankruptcy 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.
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. Braniff Bankruptcy can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Braniff Bankruptcy has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Braniff Bankruptcy to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) case study. Braniff Bankruptcy can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Braniff Bankruptcy 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, Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Braniff Bankruptcy 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Braniff Bankruptcy can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Braniff Bankruptcy is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
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 Braniff Bankruptcy 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.
Threats Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) are -
Regulatory challenges
– Braniff Bankruptcy 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Braniff Bankruptcy is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Braniff Bankruptcy 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 Braniff Bankruptcy business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 wage structure of Braniff Bankruptcy
– Post Covid-19 there is a sharp increase in the wages especially in the jobs that require interaction with people. The increasing wages can put downward pressure on the margins of Braniff Bankruptcy.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Braniff Bankruptcy 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Braniff Bankruptcy 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 Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) .
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. Braniff Bankruptcy can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Braniff Bankruptcy 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.
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. Braniff Bankruptcy 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.
Environmental challenges
– Braniff Bankruptcy 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. Braniff Bankruptcy can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) 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 Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) 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 Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) 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 Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) 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 Braniff International: The Ethics of Bankruptcy (A) 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 Braniff Bankruptcy needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.