Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO
The Delta Companies (Delta), essentially a sales organization, was forced to morph quickly into a full-fledged healthcare staffing and recruiting business headed by a CEO who was a former baseball coach with no business background. But he knew enough to invest heavily in technology and to continuously look for ways to improve financial information flow to take advantage of Delta's stellar growth that was fueled by a doctor shortage. Part of the company's success was attributed to its culture, which was driven by its employees. By 2008, Delta had moved up 589 spots on the Inc. 5000 list of America's Fastest-Growing Companies. Despite his company's continuing growth, the CEO did not intend to rest on his laurels.
Swot Analysis of "Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO" written by Edward D. Hess, Gosia Glinska includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Delta Baseball facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Talent management and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Delta Baseball, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Delta Baseball 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 Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Delta Baseball
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 Delta Baseball
Strengths Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Delta Baseball in Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Delta Baseball has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Delta Baseball 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 Delta Baseball 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Delta Baseball to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Delta Baseball to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Delta Baseball digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Delta Baseball 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Delta Baseball 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
– Delta Baseball is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Delta Baseball 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 Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Delta Baseball has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Delta Baseball 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.
High brand equity
– Delta Baseball has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Delta Baseball to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Delta Baseball in the sector have low bargaining power. Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Delta Baseball to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Delta Baseball is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO are -
Need for greater diversity
– Delta Baseball 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO, 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Delta Baseball 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO 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 Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Delta Baseball is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Delta Baseball, firm in the HBR case study Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO, in the dynamic environment Delta Baseball has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Delta Baseball has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Delta Baseball is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO, is just above the industry average. Delta Baseball 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO HBR case study mentions - Delta Baseball 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO 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 Delta Baseball 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Delta Baseball products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Delta Baseball needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO | 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 Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Delta Baseball 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Delta Baseball has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Delta Baseball to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO case study. Delta Baseball can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Delta Baseball 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Delta Baseball can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Organizational Development 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Delta Baseball 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, Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO, 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
– Delta Baseball can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Delta Baseball to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Delta Baseball to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Delta Baseball can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Delta Baseball operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
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. Delta Baseball can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Delta Baseball can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Delta Baseball 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. Delta Baseball 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.
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 Delta Baseball 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Delta Baseball 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.
Threats Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Delta Baseball with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Delta Baseball needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Delta Baseball 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. Delta Baseball can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Delta Baseball 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Delta Baseball 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.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Delta Baseball in the Organizational Development industry. The Organizational Development 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Delta Baseball 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 Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO .
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO, Delta Baseball 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 .
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Organizational Development field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Delta Baseball can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Delta Baseball is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Delta Baseball.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO 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 Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO 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 Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO 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 Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO 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 Jeff Bowling @ the Delta Companies: From Baseball Coach to CEO 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 Delta Baseball needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
