Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C)
Can a company base a major proposal on its good reputation, history with the client, and a perspective that differs from that client's own? Emphasizing both its engineering capability and 80 years' experience, Parsons Brinckerhoff spends one year and $1 million preparing a proposal to build a $17 billion subway line. Competition from four equally qualified firms is stiff, but PB is sure its history and top-level Metropolitan Transit Authority connections make it a shoe-in. Despite MTA's concerns about the finished line's functionality, PB believes the construction of the tunnel itself is the key to winning the bid. In the A case, the firm awaits the good news. The B and C cases reveal the result and the direction the company then chooses to take.
Swot Analysis of "Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C)" written by Ronald T Wilcox, Carlos Michael Santos includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Brinckerhoff Pb facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategy and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Brinckerhoff Pb, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Brinckerhoff Pb 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 Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Brinckerhoff Pb
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 Brinckerhoff Pb
Strengths Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Brinckerhoff Pb in Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Brinckerhoff Pb has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Brinckerhoff Pb 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Brinckerhoff Pb 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 Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) 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.
Analytics focus
– Brinckerhoff Pb 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 Ronald T Wilcox, Carlos Michael Santos 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 Brinckerhoff Pb in the sector have low bargaining power. Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Brinckerhoff Pb to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Brinckerhoff Pb digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Brinckerhoff Pb 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Brinckerhoff Pb is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Brinckerhoff Pb has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Brinckerhoff Pb 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 Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Brinckerhoff Pb
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Brinckerhoff Pb does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Brinckerhoff Pb is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Brinckerhoff Pb in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C), it seems that the employees of Brinckerhoff Pb 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Brinckerhoff Pb 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) HBR case study mentions - Brinckerhoff Pb 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Brinckerhoff Pb has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Brinckerhoff Pb 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) 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 Brinckerhoff Pb 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) 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 Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Brinckerhoff Pb is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ronald T Wilcox, Carlos Michael Santos suggests that, Brinckerhoff Pb is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Brinckerhoff Pb 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 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 Brinckerhoff Pb supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Brinckerhoff Pb vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Brinckerhoff Pb is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Brinckerhoff Pb needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Brinckerhoff Pb to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) | 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 Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Brinckerhoff Pb 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.
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. Brinckerhoff Pb 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. Brinckerhoff Pb 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Brinckerhoff Pb can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Brinckerhoff Pb operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Brinckerhoff Pb can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Brinckerhoff Pb can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Brinckerhoff Pb is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Brinckerhoff Pb 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Brinckerhoff Pb has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Brinckerhoff Pb to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) case study. Brinckerhoff Pb can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Brinckerhoff Pb 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 Brinckerhoff Pb to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Brinckerhoff Pb 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 Brinckerhoff Pb 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Brinckerhoff Pb 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 Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Brinckerhoff Pb to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Brinckerhoff Pb can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Brinckerhoff Pb has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Brinckerhoff Pb 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.
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. Brinckerhoff Pb can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Brinckerhoff Pb.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Brinckerhoff Pb 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Brinckerhoff Pb 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 Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Brinckerhoff Pb 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.
Environmental challenges
– Brinckerhoff Pb 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. Brinckerhoff Pb can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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 Brinckerhoff Pb in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Brinckerhoff Pb 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.
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. Brinckerhoff Pb needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Brinckerhoff Pb 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. Brinckerhoff Pb 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 wage structure of Brinckerhoff Pb
– 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 Brinckerhoff Pb.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) 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 Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) 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 Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) 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 Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) 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 Parsons Brinckerhoff: The Second Avenue Subway (C) 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 Brinckerhoff Pb needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
