Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project
This case describes a development decision faced by Stanford University's Office of Land, Building, and Real Estate. In 2004, Stanford had the opportunity to develop a a 21.4 acre swath of land in one of the premier business addresses in the country. Whitney Birdwell, an associate director of real estate development at Stanford Land Buildings and Real Estate (LBRE), has been asked to evaluate Stanford's building options. Specifically, she needs to prepare a development pro forma as for Stanford's senior staff which, following the staff's approval, will be presented before the Menlo Park City Council (MPCC). The MPCC's attitude towards growth had become more favorable over the last year and the city desperately wanted more hotel space in the city. However, due to traffic and other concerns, particularly those relating to fiscal issues, the city would be reluctant to approve a project dominated by office use. Birdwell could propose a project with a hotel only. This would give the project a high likelihood of obtaining approvals from the MPCC. Alternatively, she could suggest a project with the maximum developable office space and risk seeing it rejected. If Stanford's proposed project failed to gain approvals, the bigger risk was that the land could lie vacant, as it already had, for decades. In this case, the land would generate no current income for the university.
Swot Analysis of "Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project" written by Sara Gaviser Leslie, Douglas Abbey includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Land Stanford's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Government, Technology and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Land Stanford's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Land Stanford's 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 Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Land Stanford's
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 Land Stanford's
Strengths Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Land Stanford's in Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Land Stanford's is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Land Stanford's in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Land Stanford's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Land Stanford's 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Land Stanford's 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 Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Land Stanford's 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 Land Stanford's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Land Stanford's 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Land Stanford's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project 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 Land Stanford's in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Land Stanford's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Land Stanford's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Land Stanford's is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Land Stanford's in the sector have low bargaining power. Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Land Stanford's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Land Stanford's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Land Stanford's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Land Stanford's needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project, 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Land Stanford's 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Land Stanford's 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 Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project, is just above the industry average. Land Stanford's 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project, in the dynamic environment Land Stanford's has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Land Stanford's has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Sara Gaviser Leslie, Douglas Abbey suggests that, Land Stanford's 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Land Stanford's 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Land Stanford's 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. Land Stanford's 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Land Stanford's 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 - Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project HBR case study mentions - Land Stanford's 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.
Opportunities Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project | 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 Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project are -
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 Land Stanford's in the consumer business. Now Land Stanford's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Land Stanford's 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 Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Land Stanford's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Land Stanford's can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Land Stanford's 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Land Stanford's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Land Stanford's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
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. Land Stanford's 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. Land Stanford's 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 Land Stanford's to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Land Stanford's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Land Stanford's 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.
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. Land Stanford's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Land Stanford's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project 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 Land Stanford's 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 Land Stanford's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Land Stanford's 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 Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Land Stanford's 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.
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.
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 Land Stanford's business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Land Stanford's 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 Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Land Stanford's is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Land Stanford's 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
– Land Stanford's 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.
Increasing wage structure of Land Stanford's
– 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 Land Stanford's.
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. Land Stanford's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Land Stanford's 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.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Land Stanford's 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 Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project, Land Stanford's 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project 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 Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project 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 Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project 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 Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project 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 Eucalyptus Sand Hill Hotel and Office Development Project 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 Land Stanford's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.