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People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version


This case is accompanied by a Video Short that can be shown in class or included in a digital coursepack. Instructors should consider the timing of making the video available to students, as it may reveal key case details.Describes the innovative approach to organizing and managing employees by People Express and describes the company's eventual demise. This material can be used to inform about leading edge human resource management practices and to raise questions about what went wrong. Why did People Express succeed in its early years and why did it ultimately fail?

Authors :: Michael Beer

Topics :: Organizational Development

Tags :: Leadership, Organizational culture, Organizational structure, Strategy execution, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version" written by Michael Beer includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Express People facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Organizational culture, Organizational structure, Strategy execution and Organizational Development.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, geopolitical disruptions, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Express People, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Express People 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 People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Express People
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 Express People




Strengths People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Express People in People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version Harvard Business Review case study are -

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version 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.

Organizational Resilience of Express People

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Express People does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Innovation driven organization

– Express People is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Express People in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Express People 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.

Learning organization

- Express People 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 Express People is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field

– Express People 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 Express People in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Express People in the sector have low bargaining power. People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Express People to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Express People 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 People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Training and development

– Express People has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version 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.

Analytics focus

– Express People 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 Michael Beer 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry

– People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Express People to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Express People to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.






Weaknesses People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version are -

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version HBR case study mentions - Express People 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 bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Michael Beer suggests that, Express People 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Express People 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 - People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version 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 People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Express People is planning to shift buying processes online.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version, in the dynamic environment Express People has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Express People has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Express People, firm in the HBR case study People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Need for greater diversity

– Express People 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 People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version, is just above the industry average. Express People 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.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Express People is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Express People is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Express People needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Express People to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Express People 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 People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version | 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 People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version are -

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Express People to increase its market reach. Express People 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Express People 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Express People 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Express People can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Loyalty marketing

– Express People 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.

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 Express People in the consumer business. Now Express People can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Express People has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Express People to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version case study. Express People can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Express People 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 People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Express People to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Express People 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.

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 Express People 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Express People 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Express People 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 Express People to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Express People 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, People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.




Threats People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version are -

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Express People is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Express People has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Express People 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.

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. Express People 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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version, Express People 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 .

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Express People 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Express People 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 People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version .

Increasing wage structure of Express People

– 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 Express People.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Express People 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.

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 Express People in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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 Express People.

High level of anxiety and lack of motivation

– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Express People needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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.

Environmental challenges

– Express People 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. Express People can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version 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 People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version 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 People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version 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 People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version 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 People Express Airlines: Rise and Decline, Chinese Version 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 Express People needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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