Case Study Description of Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey
Harvard Real Estate Services executives need to design the 2005 Graduate Student Housing Survey for maximum impact in anticipation of Harvard's long-term expansion project in Allston. Students are challenged to help executives in charge to (1) draw the lessons from their earlier survey experience: what survey data had most--or least--impact and why? and (2) imagine what survey data--accounting for the power and limits of survey research--could be most useful for the Allston initiative. Provides a complete template for survey research, while at the same time raises critical issues--technical issues as well as more managerial questions related to the proactive management of market research in organizations.
Swot Analysis of "Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey" written by Luc Wathieu includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Survey Allston facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customers, Market research and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Survey Allston, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Survey Allston 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 Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Survey Allston
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Survey Allston
Strengths Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Survey Allston in Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey 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.
High brand equity
– Survey Allston has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Survey Allston to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Survey Allston has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Survey Allston is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Survey Allston to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Survey Allston to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Survey Allston 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 Luc Wathieu 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.
Organizational Resilience of Survey Allston
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Survey Allston does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Survey Allston has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Survey Allston has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Survey Allston in the sector have low bargaining power. Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Survey Allston to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Survey Allston 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 Survey Allston is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Survey Allston is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey 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 Survey Allston in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey, it seems that the employees of Survey Allston 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Survey Allston is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Survey Allston 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 - Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing 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.
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 Survey Allston supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Survey Allston vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Survey Allston 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey 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 Survey Allston 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Survey Allston is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Survey Allston needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Survey Allston to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Survey Allston 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 Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey, is just above the industry average. Survey Allston 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 strategic competitive environment developments
– As Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey HBR case study mentions - Survey Allston 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.
Opportunities Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey | 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 Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Survey Allston can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Survey Allston operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Survey Allston 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. Survey Allston 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Survey Allston 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 Survey Allston to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Survey Allston can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing 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.
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 Survey Allston in the consumer business. Now Survey Allston can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Survey Allston 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 Sales & Marketing segment.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Survey Allston to increase its market reach. Survey Allston 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Survey Allston 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.
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 Survey Allston 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Survey Allston in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Survey Allston 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, Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Survey Allston can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Survey Allston can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey are -
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Survey Allston 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Survey Allston is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Survey Allston has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Survey Allston needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing 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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Survey Allston 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 Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey .
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 Survey Allston business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Survey Allston needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Survey Allston 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.
Environmental challenges
– Survey Allston 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. Survey Allston can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Increasing wage structure of Survey Allston
– 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 Survey Allston.
Regulatory challenges
– Survey Allston 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 Sales & Marketing industry regulations.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Survey Allston 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Survey Allston can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey 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 Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey 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 Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey 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 Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey 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 Harvard Graduate Student Housing Survey 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 Survey Allston needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
