Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001
Bethlehem Steel's 2001 bankruptcy filing inspires an employee's daughter to evaluate her father's pension plan, weeks after September 11's tragedies exacerbated a weakening U.S. economy and just months before her father planned to retire. Battered equity markets and plummeting interest rates foretell a "pension crisis," while the daughter discovers the history and government role in U.S. private defined-benefit pension plans. She tries to apply her newly acquired finance skills as an MBA student to estimate the pension plan's true asset-liability condition and to advise her father about his upcoming retirement from a historically dominant U.S. company that has lost its competitiveness to global producers.
Authors :: Peter Tufano, Zvi Bodie, Akiko M. Mitsui
Swot Analysis of "Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001" written by Peter Tufano, Zvi Bodie, Akiko M. Mitsui includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Pension Bethlehem facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices,
increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Pension Bethlehem, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Pension Bethlehem 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 Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Pension Bethlehem
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Pension Bethlehem
Strengths Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Pension Bethlehem in Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Pension Bethlehem is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– Pension Bethlehem has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Pension Bethlehem to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Pension Bethlehem 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 Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Pension Bethlehem is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Pension Bethlehem is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Pension Bethlehem has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Pension Bethlehem 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Pension Bethlehem in the sector have low bargaining power. Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Pension Bethlehem to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Pension Bethlehem 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 Pension Bethlehem in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Pension Bethlehem 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 Pension Bethlehem is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Pension Bethlehem 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.
Training and development
– Pension Bethlehem has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Pension Bethlehem to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Pension Bethlehem to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 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 Pension Bethlehem has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001, it seems that the employees of Pension Bethlehem 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 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 Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Pension Bethlehem is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Peter Tufano, Zvi Bodie, Akiko M. Mitsui suggests that, Pension Bethlehem 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Pension Bethlehem 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. Pension Bethlehem 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Pension Bethlehem 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 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 Pension Bethlehem 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Pension Bethlehem is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Pension Bethlehem needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Pension Bethlehem to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Pension Bethlehem 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Pension Bethlehem 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 - Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Pension Bethlehem, firm in the HBR case study Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 | 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 Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Pension Bethlehem 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.
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 Pension Bethlehem in the consumer business. Now Pension Bethlehem can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Pension Bethlehem can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– Pension Bethlehem can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Pension Bethlehem 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Pension Bethlehem can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 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.
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. Pension Bethlehem can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Pension Bethlehem to increase its market reach. Pension Bethlehem 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Pension Bethlehem 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 Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Pension Bethlehem to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Pension Bethlehem is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Pension Bethlehem can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Pension Bethlehem operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Pension Bethlehem 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. Pension Bethlehem 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Pension Bethlehem in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Threats Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 are -
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. Pension Bethlehem 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.
Increasing wage structure of Pension Bethlehem
– 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 Pension Bethlehem.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Pension Bethlehem 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 Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Pension Bethlehem 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Pension Bethlehem is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Pension Bethlehem with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Pension Bethlehem 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Pension Bethlehem can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001, Pension Bethlehem may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Pension Bethlehem 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.
Environmental challenges
– Pension Bethlehem 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. Pension Bethlehem can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting 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 Pension Bethlehem in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 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 Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 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 Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 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 Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 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 Pension Plan of Bethlehem Steel--2001 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 Pension Bethlehem needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.