From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura
After Port Aventura's launch as a theme park in 1995, it continued to invest heavily in new shows, rides, hotels, golf courses, a convention center, and a shopping mall, all with the aim of adjusting to seasonal adjusted demand. This transformation from a theme park to a resort posed new challenges for Port Aventura's executive team. In particular, as a theme park, the analysis of its commercial activity focused on aggregated statistical information about groups of customers. By contrast, as a resort, management now needed to know and target individual customers. Yet, the company's existing information management processes and systems were not ready to support such a one-to-one marketing approach. This case is situated in mid-2009 when the general manager asked the chief financial officer and the director of information systems to find a solution to address the marketing needs of the resort. The case discussion encourages students to identify and assess the business problems and relate them to the existing information management processes and systems. Students will also have to present a proposal that addresses this one-to-one marketing strategy.
Authors :: Mariano A Hervas, Joan Rodon, Marc Planell, Xavier Sala
Swot Analysis of "From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura" written by Mariano A Hervas, Joan Rodon, Marc Planell, Xavier Sala includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Resort Theme facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Resort Theme, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Resort Theme 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 From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Resort Theme
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 Resort Theme
Strengths From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Resort Theme in From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Resort Theme is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Resort Theme has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Resort Theme to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Resort Theme to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Resort Theme in the sector have low bargaining power. From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Resort Theme to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Resort Theme has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Resort Theme to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Resort Theme 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 Mariano A Hervas, Joan Rodon, Marc Planell, Xavier Sala 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 Resort Theme in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Resort Theme digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Resort Theme 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Resort Theme 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 Resort Theme in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Resort Theme 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.
Learning organization
- Resort Theme 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 Resort Theme is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura, in the dynamic environment Resort Theme has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Resort Theme has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura 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 Resort Theme has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura HBR case study mentions - Resort Theme 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Resort Theme 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 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 Resort Theme supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Resort Theme vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Resort Theme is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Resort Theme 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 - From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Resort Theme products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Resort Theme needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Resort Theme 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura, is just above the industry average. Resort Theme 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura, it seems that the employees of Resort Theme 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.
Opportunities From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura | 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 From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Resort Theme 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Resort Theme to increase its market reach. Resort Theme will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Resort Theme 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Resort Theme is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura 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.
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 Resort Theme in the consumer business. Now Resort Theme can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Resort Theme 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Resort Theme 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, Resort Theme can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Resort Theme operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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 Resort Theme 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Resort Theme 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.
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. Resort Theme 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. Resort Theme 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Resort Theme 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, From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Resort Theme 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 From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Resort Theme to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Resort Theme 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 From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Resort Theme 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.
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 Resort Theme 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 From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura, Resort Theme 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 .
Increasing wage structure of Resort Theme
– 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 Resort Theme.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Resort Theme 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
– Resort Theme has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Resort Theme 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Resort Theme 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.
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. Resort Theme 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.
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 Resort Theme business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Resort Theme is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura 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 From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura 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 From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura 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 From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura 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 From Theme Park To Resort: Customer Information Management At Port Aventura 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 Resort Theme needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.