The Eleganzia Group SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Eleganzia Group
Eleganzia Group management faces tough decisions heading into the summer of 2010. With tourism on the decline due to the global economic recession, General Manager Giannuzzi must decide how to set prices at the Forte Village Resort, the Group's most well-known property. His management team is further divided on whether the pricing model at the resort should change to being all-inclusive (as opposed to one where guests are charged for each additional activity or dining option on a pay-as-you-go basis), and whether to convert a large number of the 4-star rooms into 5-star suites. Recently acquired properties, such as the Castel Monastero in Tuscany and the Maddalena Hotel & Yacht Club in north Sardinia, pose a branding challenge. Can all the properties, including the Forte Village, be successfully brought under one umbrella brand, namely, Eleganzia? Moreover, what should the character of each these new properties be?
Authors :: Elie Ofek, Elena Corsi, Bharat Sajnani, Sorina Casian-Botez
Swot Analysis of "The Eleganzia Group" written by Elie Ofek, Elena Corsi, Bharat Sajnani, Sorina Casian-Botez includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Eleganzia Forte facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Eleganzia Group case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customers, Pricing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Eleganzia Group casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Eleganzia Group
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Eleganzia Group case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Eleganzia Forte, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Eleganzia Forte 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 The Eleganzia Group can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Eleganzia Group case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Eleganzia Forte
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 Eleganzia Forte
Strengths The Eleganzia Group | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Eleganzia Forte in The Eleganzia Group Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Eleganzia Forte 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 Elie Ofek, Elena Corsi, Bharat Sajnani, Sorina Casian-Botez 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Eleganzia Forte 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 The Eleganzia Group - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Eleganzia Forte is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Eleganzia Forte has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Eleganzia Forte 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Eleganzia Forte is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Eleganzia Group Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Eleganzia Forte digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Eleganzia Forte 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Eleganzia Forte is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Eleganzia Group are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– The Eleganzia Group firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Eleganzia Forte to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Eleganzia Forte to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Eleganzia Forte 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 Eleganzia Forte is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Eleganzia Group Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Eleganzia Forte is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Eleganzia Group 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Eleganzia Forte in the sector have low bargaining power. The Eleganzia Group has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Eleganzia Forte to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Eleganzia Forte has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Eleganzia Forte to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses The Eleganzia Group | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Eleganzia Group are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Eleganzia Forte 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Eleganzia Group, in the dynamic environment Eleganzia Forte has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Eleganzia Forte has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The Eleganzia Group 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 The Eleganzia Group can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Eleganzia Forte is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Eleganzia Forte 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Eleganzia Forte 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 The Eleganzia Group HBR case study mentions - Eleganzia Forte 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Eleganzia Forte 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. Eleganzia Forte 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Eleganzia Forte 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The Eleganzia Group, 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Eleganzia Forte 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.
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 Eleganzia Forte supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Eleganzia Group, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Eleganzia Forte vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities The Eleganzia Group | 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 The Eleganzia Group are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Eleganzia Forte 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 Eleganzia Forte to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Eleganzia Forte 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Eleganzia Forte 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, The Eleganzia Group, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Eleganzia Forte 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.
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. Eleganzia Forte can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Eleganzia Forte can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Eleganzia Forte 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. Eleganzia Forte 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. Eleganzia Forte 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Eleganzia Forte 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Eleganzia Forte can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Eleganzia Forte 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Eleganzia Forte 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Eleganzia Forte 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 Eleganzia Forte in the consumer business. Now Eleganzia Forte can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats The Eleganzia Group External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Eleganzia Group are -
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. Eleganzia Forte can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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. Eleganzia Forte 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Eleganzia Forte 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 The Eleganzia Group .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Eleganzia Group, Eleganzia Forte may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Eleganzia Forte in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing 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.
Environmental challenges
– Eleganzia Forte 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. Eleganzia Forte can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Eleganzia Forte with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Eleganzia Forte is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Eleganzia Forte 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.
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 Eleganzia Forte in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Eleganzia Forte
– 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 Eleganzia Forte.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Eleganzia Forte 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Eleganzia Group 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 The Eleganzia Group 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 The Eleganzia Group 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 The Eleganzia Group 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 The Eleganzia Group 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 Eleganzia Forte needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
