Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics
This is the first of a three-case series. Richard Debenham is an operations manager working for the main Australian licensee of a leading global soft drinks producer. In 1990, accompanied by his family, he is transferred from Sydney to the company's European base in Vienna to develop the soft drinks market in Central and Eastern Europe. With little help from his local Austrian colleagues, Richard sets to work negotiating franchise ownership agreements and witnesses the many political changes that occur after the fall of the Iron Curtain and amidst the Velvet Divorce, the dissolution of Czechoslovakia. Over time, the company successfully expands further east. However, due to changes at the headquarters Richard senses increasing difficulties in returning to Sydney until he receives an offer to manage the company's Sydney Olympics program back home. Aware of the temporary nature of this project, Richard has to decide whether or not to accept this offer.
Swot Analysis of "Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics" written by Sebastian Reiche includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sydney Richard facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, Personnel policies and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices, 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, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sydney Richard, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sydney Richard 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 Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sydney Richard
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Sydney Richard
Strengths Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sydney Richard in Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sydney Richard in the sector have low bargaining power. Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sydney Richard to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Sydney Richard
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Sydney Richard does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Sydney Richard 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Sydney Richard is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Sydney Richard in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sydney Richard has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sydney Richard 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Sydney Richard is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Sydney Richard has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics 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.
Analytics focus
– Sydney Richard 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 Sebastian Reiche 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sydney Richard to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sydney Richard to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Sydney Richard is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics 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.
Weaknesses Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Organizational Development 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Sydney Richard products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Sydney Richard needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Sydney Richard 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Sydney Richard 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics, is just above the industry average. Sydney Richard 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Sydney Richard is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Sydney Richard needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Sydney Richard to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics, it seems that the employees of Sydney Richard 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics HBR case study mentions - Sydney Richard 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Sydney Richard, firm in the HBR case study Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Sydney Richard 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics 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 Sydney Richard 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics | 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 Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sydney Richard can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Sydney Richard can develop new processes and procedures in Organizational Development 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.
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. Sydney Richard can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Sydney Richard is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Organizational Development industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Sydney Richard 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. Sydney Richard 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Sydney Richard 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
– Sydney Richard 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
– Sydney Richard 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 Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sydney Richard to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Sydney Richard 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Sydney Richard in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Organizational Development segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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 Sydney Richard in the consumer business. Now Sydney Richard can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sydney Richard 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Sydney Richard has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Sydney Richard to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics case study. Sydney Richard can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Sydney Richard with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sydney Richard is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Sydney Richard 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. Sydney Richard can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
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 Sydney Richard in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Sydney Richard
– 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 Sydney Richard.
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. Sydney Richard needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics, Sydney Richard may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Sydney Richard 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 Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics .
Regulatory challenges
– Sydney Richard 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 Organizational Development industry regulations.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sydney Richard 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.
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 Sydney Richard business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics 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 Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics 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 Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics 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 Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics 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 Richard Debenham in Vienna (A): Between Velvet Divorce and the Sydney Olympics 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 Sydney Richard needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
