Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling
The setting of this case, world championship wrestling, is an interesting venue in which to explore the ethics of violence in entertainment and how management seeks to make a profit in the face of public criticism and advertising boycotts.
Swot Analysis of "Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling" written by R. Edward Freeman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Wrestling Championship facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Wrestling Championship, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Wrestling Championship 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 Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Wrestling Championship
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 Wrestling Championship
Strengths Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Wrestling Championship in Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Wrestling Championship has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Wrestling Championship to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Wrestling Championship has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Wrestling Championship 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.
Organizational Resilience of Wrestling Championship
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Wrestling Championship does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Wrestling Championship is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling 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
– Wrestling Championship is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Wrestling Championship in the sector have low bargaining power. Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Wrestling Championship to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Wrestling Championship in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Wrestling Championship is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Wrestling Championship 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Wrestling Championship to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Wrestling Championship to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Wrestling Championship 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 Wrestling Championship in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling, it seems that the employees of Wrestling Championship 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling 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 Wrestling Championship has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Wrestling Championship 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Wrestling Championship 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 - Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Wrestling Championship is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Wrestling Championship needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Wrestling Championship to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling, in the dynamic environment Wrestling Championship has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Wrestling Championship has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling HBR case study mentions - Wrestling Championship 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Wrestling Championship products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Wrestling Championship needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Wrestling Championship 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling, 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling, is just above the industry average. Wrestling Championship needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Opportunities Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling | 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 Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Wrestling Championship can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Wrestling Championship 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Wrestling Championship can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Leadership & Managing People segment.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Wrestling Championship 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Wrestling Championship 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Wrestling Championship can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Wrestling Championship operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Wrestling Championship 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Wrestling Championship 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.
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. Wrestling Championship can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Wrestling Championship has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Wrestling Championship to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling case study. Wrestling Championship can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Wrestling Championship is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Wrestling Championship 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.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Wrestling Championship in the consumer business. Now Wrestling Championship can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Wrestling Championship 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Wrestling Championship has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Wrestling Championship 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Wrestling Championship 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.
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. Wrestling Championship can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Wrestling Championship in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Wrestling Championship business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Wrestling Championship 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 Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Wrestling Championship in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Wrestling Championship is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Wrestling Championship with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Wrestling Championship needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Wrestling Championship 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. Wrestling Championship can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Increasing wage structure of Wrestling Championship
– 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 Wrestling Championship.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling 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 Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling 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 Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling 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 Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling 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 Eric Bischoff and World Championship Wrestling 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 Wrestling Championship needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
