Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs
Greg Popovich, head coach of the National Basketball Association's (NBA) San Antonio Spurs (Spurs), decides to rest his three aging star players during a highly-anticipated game against the NBA champion Miami Heat (Heat). Miami fans have paid a premium for tickets to the game. Many intend to bring their children to see the young, upstart Heat face the much older, but still highly-competitive Spurs. This is a Thursday night game, nationally-televised by the important sponsor of the NBA, TNT. Not to have the Spurs' stars in the game is very disappointing to fans and to the NBA itself. Popovich needs to decide whether it's right to rest his players, and what to say to the fans and to the NBA.
Swot Analysis of "Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs" written by Michael Sider includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Spurs Nba facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Organizational culture and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Spurs Nba, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Spurs Nba 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 Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Spurs Nba
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 Spurs Nba
Strengths Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Spurs Nba in Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Spurs Nba has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Spurs Nba to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Spurs Nba to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Spurs Nba to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Spurs Nba has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Spurs Nba 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Spurs Nba in the sector have low bargaining power. Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Spurs Nba to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Spurs Nba is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– Spurs Nba 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 Michael Sider 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Spurs Nba 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 Spurs Nba in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Spurs Nba 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 Spurs Nba is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Spurs Nba has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Spurs Nba is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Spurs Nba 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Spurs Nba 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 Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs, is just above the industry average. Spurs Nba 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs, in the dynamic environment Spurs Nba has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Spurs Nba has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Spurs Nba 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Spurs Nba 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs, 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Spurs Nba 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 - Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Spurs Nba products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Spurs Nba needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Michael Sider suggests that, Spurs Nba is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs, it seems that the employees of Spurs Nba 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Spurs Nba 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs 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 Spurs Nba 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs | 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 Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Spurs Nba can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Spurs Nba 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 Spurs Nba to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Spurs Nba can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Spurs Nba can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Spurs Nba 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Spurs Nba has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Spurs Nba to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Spurs Nba can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Spurs Nba can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Spurs Nba operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Spurs Nba 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Spurs Nba has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Spurs Nba to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs case study. Spurs Nba can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Spurs Nba can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Spurs Nba 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Spurs Nba can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Spurs Nba is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs 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.
Threats Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Spurs Nba with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Spurs Nba can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Spurs Nba 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.
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. Spurs Nba 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.
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. Spurs Nba needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Spurs Nba 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.
Environmental challenges
– Spurs Nba 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. Spurs Nba can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Spurs Nba 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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Spurs Nba 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 Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs .
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.
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 Spurs Nba business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Spurs Nba
– 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 Spurs Nba.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs 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 Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs 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 Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs 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 Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs 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 Gregg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs 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 Spurs Nba needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.