An intern has completed her summer internship as Brussels and Bradshaw (B&B), an investment bank in Toronto, Ontario. She now faces her final performance review where she will be told whether or not she has been offered full-time employment following her graduation. After a grueling summer during which she received little training, no formal mentorship and worked tireless 100 hour weeks with no praise, she was frustrated, hurt and bitter about the experience. Despite enjoying finance and the actual work, the intern is unsure whether taking B&B's offer is a good idea, should B&B extend her the opportunity. Despite it being one of the most prestigious banks in the world, she had seen little to no improvement in the abusive approach of her superiors. As she walks to the business department manager's office, she reviews whether or not she should bring up the unresolved issues that transpired during the summer, the mounting frustration of working in teams that gossiped and did not respect her work, and finally her inability to understand why she had been treated so poorly despite her diligent work ethic. On the one hand, the intern could bring up such issues and try to explain herself before the business department manager decides whether or not to extend her the offer. Or, she could listen to the review and continue to take full responsibility for the problems which were not her making in the hopes that it might make her look more mature and professional and potentially aid her in obtaining her full-time offer.
Swot Analysis of "Brussels and Bradshaw" written by Alison Konrad, Shannon Thomson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bradshaw Intern facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Brussels and Bradshaw case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Gender, Organizational culture, Work-life balance and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Brussels and Bradshaw casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Brussels and Bradshaw
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Brussels and Bradshaw case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bradshaw Intern, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bradshaw Intern 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 Brussels and Bradshaw can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Brussels and Bradshaw case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bradshaw Intern
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 Bradshaw Intern
Strengths Brussels and Bradshaw | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bradshaw Intern in Brussels and Bradshaw Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Bradshaw Intern is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Bradshaw Intern 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Bradshaw Intern 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.
Organizational Resilience of Bradshaw Intern
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bradshaw Intern does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bradshaw Intern in the sector have low bargaining power. Brussels and Bradshaw has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bradshaw Intern to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Brussels and Bradshaw firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bradshaw Intern to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bradshaw Intern to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Bradshaw Intern has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bradshaw Intern 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.
Training and development
– Bradshaw Intern has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Brussels and Bradshaw 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.
High brand equity
– Bradshaw Intern has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bradshaw Intern to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Bradshaw Intern is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Brussels and Bradshaw 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Bradshaw Intern 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 Brussels and Bradshaw - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bradshaw Intern digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bradshaw Intern has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Weaknesses Brussels and Bradshaw | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Brussels and Bradshaw are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Bradshaw Intern, firm in the HBR case study Brussels and Bradshaw needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Bradshaw Intern supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Brussels and Bradshaw, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Bradshaw Intern vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Bradshaw Intern 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Brussels and Bradshaw, is just above the industry average. Bradshaw Intern 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Brussels and Bradshaw 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 Brussels and Bradshaw can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bradshaw Intern is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Bradshaw Intern 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 to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Brussels and Bradshaw HBR case study mentions - Bradshaw Intern 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bradshaw Intern is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Brussels and Bradshaw can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Bradshaw Intern 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. Bradshaw Intern 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Bradshaw Intern is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Bradshaw Intern needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bradshaw Intern to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Brussels and Bradshaw 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 Bradshaw Intern has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Brussels and Bradshaw | 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 Brussels and Bradshaw are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bradshaw Intern 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, Brussels and Bradshaw, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Bradshaw Intern 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Bradshaw Intern can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Brussels and Bradshaw 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Bradshaw Intern 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Bradshaw Intern can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Bradshaw Intern operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bradshaw Intern 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bradshaw Intern has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bradshaw Intern to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Brussels and Bradshaw case study. Bradshaw Intern can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Bradshaw Intern 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. Bradshaw Intern 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Bradshaw Intern 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bradshaw Intern 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bradshaw Intern 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Bradshaw Intern can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Bradshaw Intern in the consumer business. Now Bradshaw Intern can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Brussels and Bradshaw External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Brussels and Bradshaw are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bradshaw Intern 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bradshaw Intern with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Bradshaw Intern.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bradshaw Intern 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 Bradshaw Intern in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bradshaw Intern 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bradshaw Intern 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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Bradshaw Intern has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bradshaw Intern needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Organizational Development sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Increasing wage structure of Bradshaw Intern
– 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 Bradshaw Intern.
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. Bradshaw Intern 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Bradshaw Intern 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 Brussels and Bradshaw .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Brussels and Bradshaw 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 Brussels and Bradshaw 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 Brussels and Bradshaw 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 Brussels and Bradshaw 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 Brussels and Bradshaw 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 Bradshaw Intern needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.