Swot Analysis of "Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors" written by Benson P. Shapiro, Craig E. Cline includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cumberland Beta facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Negotiations, Pricing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cumberland Beta, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cumberland Beta 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 Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cumberland Beta
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 Cumberland Beta
Strengths Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cumberland Beta in Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cumberland Beta digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cumberland Beta 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Cumberland Beta has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Cumberland Beta 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Cumberland Beta are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cumberland Beta 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cumberland Beta to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cumberland Beta to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Cumberland Beta
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cumberland Beta does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Cumberland Beta 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 Cumberland Beta is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cumberland Beta in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High brand equity
– Cumberland Beta has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cumberland Beta to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cumberland Beta is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors 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.
Training and development
– Cumberland Beta has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Cumberland Beta is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors HBR case study mentions - Cumberland Beta 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors, it seems that the employees of Cumberland Beta 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Cumberland Beta products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Cumberland Beta needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors 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 Cumberland Beta has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cumberland Beta 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 - Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors 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 Cumberland Beta 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors, is just above the industry average. Cumberland Beta 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors 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 Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cumberland Beta is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors, 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors, in the dynamic environment Cumberland Beta has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cumberland Beta has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Cumberland Beta 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.
Opportunities Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors | 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 Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors are -
Buying journey improvements
– Cumberland Beta can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Sales & Marketing industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Cumberland Beta can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Cumberland Beta 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.
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 Cumberland Beta 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 Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Cumberland Beta 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. Cumberland Beta 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cumberland Beta 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Cumberland Beta can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cumberland Beta operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cumberland Beta 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cumberland Beta 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cumberland Beta 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cumberland Beta 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, Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Cumberland Beta 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cumberland Beta has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cumberland Beta to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors case study. Cumberland Beta can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cumberland Beta 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.
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. Cumberland Beta can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Cumberland Beta with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Cumberland Beta 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors, Cumberland Beta 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 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cumberland Beta has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cumberland Beta 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cumberland Beta 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.
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 Cumberland Beta.
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 Cumberland Beta business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Cumberland Beta 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.
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 Cumberland Beta in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Cumberland Beta
– 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 Cumberland Beta.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors 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 Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors 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 Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors 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 Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors 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 Cumberland Metal Industries (D): Model Year 1979 Results with Beta Motors 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 Cumberland Beta needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.