Case Study Description of MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation?
In November 2014, the Residence Services department at MacEwan University in Alberta, Canada, needed to replace a residence assistant who was exiting midway through the academic year. The new hire would have one semester of work for the current academic year and, with good performance, was expected to return for two semesters of work in the following academic year. One of the qualified applicants had a distinguishable disability: she used a wheelchair. On the one hand, it would be easier for Residence Services to not hire her because of the various potential risks, concerns, or expected difficulties that could arise with her employment. The primary concern was her ability to respond effectively to emergency situations. A secondary concern was the impact on operational efficiency and the need to adapt work and staff routines to accommodate the use of a wheelchair. On the other hand, it was not legal to discriminate against the candidate for employment, and Residence Services valued inclusive hiring practices. The decision to hire or not hire this candidate needed to be made very soon. Mike Annett is affiliated with MacEwan University.
Swot Analysis of "MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation?" written by Mike Annett, Dana Dzivinski includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Residence Macewan facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Personnel policies and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Residence Macewan, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Residence Macewan 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 MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Residence Macewan
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 Residence Macewan
Strengths MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Residence Macewan in MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Residence Macewan 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 Mike Annett, Dana Dzivinski 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Residence Macewan is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Residence Macewan is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? 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 Organizational Development industry
– MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Residence Macewan to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Residence Macewan to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Residence Macewan has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? 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 Residence Macewan 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.
Organizational Resilience of Residence Macewan
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Residence Macewan does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Residence Macewan 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 MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Residence Macewan is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Residence Macewan in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Residence Macewan has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Residence Macewan to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Residence Macewan 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 - MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Residence Macewan 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. Residence Macewan 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? HBR case study mentions - Residence Macewan 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? 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 Residence Macewan has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Residence Macewan, firm in the HBR case study MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? 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 Residence Macewan 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation?, is just above the industry average. Residence Macewan 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Mike Annett, Dana Dzivinski suggests that, Residence Macewan 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Residence Macewan 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Residence Macewan 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Residence Macewan 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.
Opportunities MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? | 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 MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? are -
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. Residence Macewan can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Residence Macewan is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Residence Macewan 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. Residence Macewan can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Residence Macewan can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Residence Macewan has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Residence Macewan to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? case study. Residence Macewan can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Residence Macewan 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Residence Macewan can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Residence Macewan operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Residence Macewan 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 Organizational Development segment.
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. Residence Macewan 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. Residence Macewan 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Residence Macewan 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Residence Macewan to increase its market reach. Residence Macewan 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.
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 Residence Macewan 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.
Threats MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Residence Macewan 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 Residence Macewan business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation?, Residence Macewan 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 .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Residence Macewan 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Residence Macewan 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.
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. Residence Macewan 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.
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 Residence Macewan.
Increasing wage structure of Residence Macewan
– 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 Residence Macewan.
Regulatory challenges
– Residence Macewan 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Residence Macewan is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Residence Macewan in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Residence Macewan 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. Residence Macewan can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Residence Macewan 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 MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? 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 MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? 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 MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? 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 MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? 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 MacEwan Residence Services: A Risky Accommodation? 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 Residence Macewan needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.