Teaming at Disney Animation SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Teaming at Disney Animation
Jonathan Geibel, Director of Systems at Walt Disney Animation Studios (hereafter referred to as Disney Animation), walked through the workspace occupied by the group he had been tasked to lead. Geibel knew he was part of a creative and magical environment. The Disney studio had created more than 53 feature animated films in over three-quarters of a century - beginning with Snow White and the Seven Dwarves in 1937 through to Frozen, released in November of 2013 and awarded the OscarA? for Best Animated Feature in March 2014, the first Academy AwardA? in that category for Walt Disney Animation Studios. In late March 2014, Frozen became the highest-grossing animated feature, worldwide, of all time. There was a period in the history of the 90 year-old studio, not so many years ago (and prior to John Lasseter and Ed Catmull's leadership), when Walt Disney Animation Studios had become more structured and hierarchical, and it wasn't always easy to work across departments to innovate. Yet the work, which involved both high-tech computer animation and creative storytelling, was more cross-disciplinary and dynamic than ever. Geibel wondered what he and Ron Johnson, whom he hired and teamed up with to re-envision the Systems group within Disney Animation, could do to improve the flow and the efficiency of the organization's increasingly technical and creative work. Geibel and Johnson had already made dramatic changes in the work structure and in the physical space to promote the effective teamwork that was so essential to producing compelling, engaging animated films. Now it was time to figure out how well the changes were working, and what further changes, if any, were necessary.
Authors :: Amy C. Edmondson, David L. Ager, Emily Harburg, Natalie Bartlett
Swot Analysis of "Teaming at Disney Animation" written by Amy C. Edmondson, David L. Ager, Emily Harburg, Natalie Bartlett includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Animation Geibel facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Teaming at Disney Animation case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Operations management, Organizational culture, Organizational structure and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Teaming at Disney Animation casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Teaming at Disney Animation
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Teaming at Disney Animation case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Animation Geibel, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Animation Geibel 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 Teaming at Disney Animation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Teaming at Disney Animation case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Animation Geibel
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 Animation Geibel
Strengths Teaming at Disney Animation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Animation Geibel in Teaming at Disney Animation Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Animation Geibel has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Animation Geibel to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Animation Geibel has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Teaming at Disney Animation 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.
Learning organization
- Animation Geibel 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 Animation Geibel is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Teaming at Disney Animation Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Teaming at Disney Animation Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Animation Geibel 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Animation Geibel has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Animation Geibel 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Animation Geibel 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.
Analytics focus
– Animation Geibel 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 Amy C. Edmondson, David L. Ager, Emily Harburg, Natalie Bartlett 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Animation Geibel in the sector have low bargaining power. Teaming at Disney Animation has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Animation Geibel to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Animation Geibel is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Teaming at Disney Animation are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Animation Geibel 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 Teaming at Disney Animation HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Animation Geibel 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 Animation Geibel in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Teaming at Disney Animation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Teaming at Disney Animation are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Teaming at Disney Animation 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 Animation Geibel has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Teaming at Disney Animation, in the dynamic environment Animation Geibel has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Animation Geibel has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Teaming at Disney Animation 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 Animation Geibel 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Animation Geibel 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 Teaming at Disney Animation, 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Animation Geibel is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Teaming at Disney Animation can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Animation Geibel has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Teaming at Disney Animation, is just above the industry average. Animation Geibel 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
– Animation Geibel 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Teaming at Disney Animation HBR case study mentions - Animation Geibel 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Animation Geibel 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.
Opportunities Teaming at Disney Animation | 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 Teaming at Disney Animation are -
Loyalty marketing
– Animation Geibel 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Animation Geibel 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 Teaming at Disney Animation - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Animation Geibel to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Animation Geibel 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Animation Geibel can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Animation Geibel can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Animation Geibel to increase its market reach. Animation Geibel 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 Animation Geibel has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Animation Geibel to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Teaming at Disney Animation case study. Animation Geibel can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Animation Geibel is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Teaming at Disney Animation 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Animation Geibel 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 Animation Geibel to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Animation Geibel can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Animation Geibel can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Teaming at Disney Animation 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.
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. Animation Geibel 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. Animation Geibel 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.
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 Animation Geibel to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Threats Teaming at Disney Animation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Teaming at Disney Animation are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Animation Geibel with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Animation Geibel 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Animation Geibel 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.
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 Animation Geibel.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Teaming at Disney Animation, Animation Geibel 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 .
Increasing wage structure of Animation Geibel
– 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 Animation Geibel.
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.
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 Animation Geibel in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Animation Geibel needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Animation Geibel 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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Animation Geibel 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.
Environmental challenges
– Animation Geibel 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. Animation Geibel can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Teaming at Disney Animation 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 Teaming at Disney Animation 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 Teaming at Disney Animation 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 Teaming at Disney Animation 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 Teaming at Disney Animation 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 Animation Geibel needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
