The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart
Vince McMahon's World Wrestling Federation faces a serious threat to survival from the deep pockets of media mogul Ted Turner and Time-Warner, Inc. McMahon must tackle management, business, and ethics challenges when Turner tries to lure the WWF's top star, Bret the Hitman Hart, away from the WWF.
Swot Analysis of "The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart" written by Thomas Mannarelli, Christopher Baty includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bret Mcmahon facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Ethics, Innovation and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
wage bills are increasing, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bret Mcmahon, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bret Mcmahon 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 The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bret Mcmahon
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 Bret Mcmahon
Strengths The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bret Mcmahon in The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bret Mcmahon in the sector have low bargaining power. The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bret Mcmahon to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Bret Mcmahon has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bret Mcmahon 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bret Mcmahon 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 The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Bret Mcmahon 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.
Learning organization
- Bret Mcmahon 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 Bret Mcmahon is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Bret Mcmahon is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Bret Mcmahon has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bret Mcmahon to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Bret Mcmahon
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bret Mcmahon does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bret Mcmahon to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bret Mcmahon to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Bret Mcmahon is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Bret Mcmahon in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Bret Mcmahon 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart, in the dynamic environment Bret Mcmahon has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bret Mcmahon has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Bret Mcmahon is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Bret Mcmahon needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bret Mcmahon to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart HBR case study mentions - Bret Mcmahon 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 Bret Mcmahon products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Bret Mcmahon needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart, is just above the industry average. Bret Mcmahon 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart 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 The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bret Mcmahon is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bret Mcmahon is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart, it seems that the employees of Bret Mcmahon 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Bret Mcmahon 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 - The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Bret Mcmahon, firm in the HBR case study The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart | 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 The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Bret Mcmahon can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Bret Mcmahon 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 The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bret Mcmahon to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bret Mcmahon 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, The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Bret Mcmahon can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Bret Mcmahon can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Bret Mcmahon operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bret Mcmahon 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Bret Mcmahon 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bret Mcmahon to increase its market reach. Bret Mcmahon 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.
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. Bret Mcmahon 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. Bret Mcmahon 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Bret Mcmahon 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 Bret Mcmahon 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Bret Mcmahon 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bret Mcmahon can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Threats The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bret Mcmahon 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bret Mcmahon 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.
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. Bret Mcmahon can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bret Mcmahon with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Bret Mcmahon 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 The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Bret Mcmahon has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bret Mcmahon 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bret Mcmahon is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart, Bret Mcmahon 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 .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bret Mcmahon 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.
Increasing wage structure of Bret Mcmahon
– 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 Bret Mcmahon.
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 Bret Mcmahon in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Bret Mcmahon 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
– Bret Mcmahon 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. Bret Mcmahon can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart 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 The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart 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 The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart 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 The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart 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 The World Wrestling Federation (A): Vince McMahon vs. Bret "the Hitman" Hart 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 Bret Mcmahon needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
