Case Study Description of Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers
In this case, a new director of flight operations for a global firm growing by acquisition must manage a series of problems in both its West- and East-coast flight centers, which were reorganized following a recent merger. Problems include new computer systems, jealousies, intergroup conflicts, weak leadership, and the need to manage change.
Swot Analysis of "Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers" written by Greg Bevan, James G. Clawson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Flight Intergroup facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management, Conflict, IT, Leadership, Organizational culture and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing commodity prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Flight Intergroup, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Flight Intergroup 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 Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Flight Intergroup
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 Flight Intergroup
Strengths Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Flight Intergroup in Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Flight Intergroup 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 Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Flight Intergroup 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 Flight Intergroup is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Flight Intergroup is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Flight Intergroup has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Flight Intergroup to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Flight Intergroup 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 Greg Bevan, James G. Clawson 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Flight Intergroup 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers 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.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Flight Intergroup 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 Flight Intergroup in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Flight Intergroup in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Flight Intergroup has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Flight Intergroup is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Flight Intergroup in the sector have low bargaining power. Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Flight Intergroup to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Flight Intergroup is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Flight Intergroup needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Flight Intergroup to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Flight Intergroup 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers, 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers, it seems that the employees of Flight Intergroup 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers 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 Flight Intergroup has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Greg Bevan, James G. Clawson suggests that, Flight Intergroup 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers 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 Flight Intergroup 's lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Flight Intergroup 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Flight Intergroup 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 - Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers, is just above the industry average. Flight Intergroup 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Flight Intergroup 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.
Opportunities Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers | 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 Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Flight Intergroup 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 Flight Intergroup to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Flight Intergroup has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Flight Intergroup is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Flight Intergroup 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 Flight Intergroup to increase its market reach. Flight Intergroup 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Flight Intergroup has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Flight Intergroup to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers case study. Flight Intergroup can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Flight Intergroup 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Flight Intergroup 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, Flight Intergroup 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, Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Flight Intergroup can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Flight Intergroup 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 Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Flight Intergroup to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Flight Intergroup 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. Flight Intergroup 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Flight Intergroup 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.
Threats Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Flight Intergroup is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Flight Intergroup 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Flight Intergroup 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 Flight Intergroup
– 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 Flight Intergroup.
Regulatory challenges
– Flight Intergroup 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.
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. Flight Intergroup 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.
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 Flight Intergroup business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Flight Intergroup 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.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers, Flight Intergroup 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. Flight Intergroup can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Flight Intergroup.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Flight Intergroup 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 Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers 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 Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers 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 Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers 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 Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers 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 Intergroup Relations at Atlantica's Flight Centers 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 Flight Intergroup needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.