Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment
The manager of the Barnstable College Endowment is evaluating proposals to increase the endowment's exposure to stocks based on an analysis that shows stocks to be much safer over long holding periods.
Swot Analysis of "Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment" written by Andre F. Perold includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Barnstable Stocks facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial markets, Risk management and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Barnstable Stocks, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Barnstable Stocks 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 Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Barnstable Stocks
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Barnstable Stocks
Strengths Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Barnstable Stocks in Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Barnstable Stocks 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 Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Barnstable Stocks 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.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Barnstable Stocks 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 Barnstable Stocks in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– Barnstable Stocks has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment 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
- Barnstable Stocks 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 Barnstable Stocks is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Barnstable Stocks 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 Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Barnstable Stocks
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Barnstable Stocks does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Barnstable Stocks to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Barnstable Stocks to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Barnstable Stocks is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Barnstable Stocks in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Barnstable Stocks digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Barnstable Stocks 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment 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.
Weaknesses Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Barnstable Stocks 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 - Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment 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 Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment 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 Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Barnstable Stocks is planning to shift buying processes online.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Barnstable Stocks 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment, is just above the industry average. Barnstable Stocks 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.
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 Barnstable Stocks supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Barnstable Stocks vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Barnstable Stocks has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Barnstable Stocks even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Andre F. Perold suggests that, Barnstable Stocks 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Barnstable Stocks products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Barnstable Stocks needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Barnstable Stocks 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment, it seems that the employees of Barnstable Stocks 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment 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 Barnstable Stocks has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment | 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 Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Barnstable Stocks to increase its market reach. Barnstable Stocks 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.
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. Barnstable Stocks can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Barnstable Stocks in the consumer business. Now Barnstable Stocks can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Barnstable Stocks 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, Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment, 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
– Barnstable Stocks can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Barnstable Stocks 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.
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 Barnstable Stocks 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Barnstable Stocks 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. Barnstable Stocks 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Barnstable Stocks can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Barnstable Stocks 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Barnstable Stocks 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 Barnstable Stocks to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Barnstable Stocks 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Barnstable Stocks can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Threats Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Barnstable Stocks 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
– Barnstable Stocks 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. Barnstable Stocks can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting 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 Barnstable Stocks in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment, Barnstable Stocks may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
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. Barnstable Stocks needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Barnstable Stocks 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 Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Barnstable Stocks with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Barnstable Stocks in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Barnstable Stocks has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Barnstable Stocks needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Increasing wage structure of Barnstable Stocks
– 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 Barnstable Stocks.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Barnstable Stocks can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Barnstable Stocks 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment 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 Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment 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 Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment 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 Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment 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 Risk of Stocks in the Long Run: Barnstable College Endowment 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 Barnstable Stocks needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
