Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue
The president of The Social Exchange at the Haskayne School of Business has only one chance. In his last year before graduating, he wants to host an ambitious event that will be remembered positively. The Friday prior to the commencement of the fall term is the date for the student orientation barbecue and many first impressions are at stake. Everything has to go well. On the morning of the event, the president cautiously reviews his plans and worries that he many have missed a vital detail.
Swot Analysis of "Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue" written by Frank W. Thirkettle, Norm Althouse includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Barbecue Haskayne facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics, Strategic planning and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Barbecue Haskayne, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Barbecue Haskayne 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 Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Barbecue Haskayne
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 Barbecue Haskayne
Strengths Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Barbecue Haskayne in Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Barbecue Haskayne 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 Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Barbecue Haskayne 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Barbecue Haskayne is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Barbecue Haskayne
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Barbecue Haskayne does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Barbecue Haskayne 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 Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Barbecue Haskayne is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Barbecue Haskayne in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Barbecue Haskayne 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Barbecue Haskayne digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Barbecue Haskayne 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.
Training and development
– Barbecue Haskayne has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue 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
– Barbecue Haskayne is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Barbecue Haskayne to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Barbecue Haskayne to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Barbecue Haskayne 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Barbecue Haskayne has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Barbecue Haskayne 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 - Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Barbecue Haskayne 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Barbecue Haskayne products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Barbecue Haskayne needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue 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 Barbecue Haskayne has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Barbecue Haskayne has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Barbecue Haskayne even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue 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 Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Barbecue Haskayne is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Barbecue Haskayne, firm in the HBR case study Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Frank W. Thirkettle, Norm Althouse suggests that, Barbecue Haskayne 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue, in the dynamic environment Barbecue Haskayne has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Barbecue Haskayne has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue | 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 Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Barbecue Haskayne to increase its market reach. Barbecue Haskayne 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Barbecue Haskayne has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Barbecue Haskayne to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue case study. Barbecue Haskayne can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Barbecue Haskayne can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Barbecue Haskayne 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Barbecue Haskayne 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Barbecue Haskayne can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Barbecue Haskayne operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Barbecue Haskayne 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.
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. Barbecue Haskayne can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Barbecue Haskayne 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. Barbecue Haskayne 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Barbecue Haskayne to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Barbecue Haskayne 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
– Barbecue Haskayne 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 Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Barbecue Haskayne to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Barbecue Haskayne 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.
Threats Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue are -
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.
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. Barbecue Haskayne 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Barbecue Haskayne 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Barbecue Haskayne 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
– Barbecue Haskayne 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. Barbecue Haskayne can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Barbecue Haskayne needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Barbecue Haskayne 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Barbecue Haskayne 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue, Barbecue Haskayne 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 Barbecue Haskayne
– 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 Barbecue Haskayne.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Barbecue Haskayne.
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 Barbecue Haskayne business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Barbecue Haskayne can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue 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 Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue 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 Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue 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 Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue 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 Haskayne School of Business Student Orientation Barbecue 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 Barbecue Haskayne needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
