Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding
To maximize their effectiveness, color cases should be printed in color.A real estate operations and investment trust is considering whether it should pursue branding as a strategic investment. Through interpretation of case data and video from focus groups, students deduce the consumer (cognitive, psychological, and economic), environmental, and company factors that are conducive to branding, thereby illuminating their understanding of when it makes sense to brand. Analysis of extensive survey data allows students to consider the secondary question about how to brand as they formulate brand-positioning recommendations. Includes color exhibits.
Swot Analysis of "Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding" written by Susan Fournier includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Branding Deduce facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Decision making, Financial management, Supply chain and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption, increasing energy prices,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Branding Deduce, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Branding Deduce 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 Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Branding Deduce
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 Branding Deduce
Strengths Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Branding Deduce in Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Branding Deduce 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Branding Deduce is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Branding Deduce has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Branding Deduce 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 Branding Deduce 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 brand equity
– Branding Deduce has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Branding Deduce to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Branding Deduce is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Branding Deduce has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Branding Deduce to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Branding Deduce to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Branding Deduce 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 Susan Fournier 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Branding Deduce is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Branding Deduce in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding 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 Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Branding Deduce is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Branding Deduce needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Branding Deduce to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding HBR case study mentions - Branding Deduce 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding, is just above the industry average. Branding Deduce 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 Branding Deduce supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Branding Deduce vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Branding Deduce 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Branding Deduce 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Branding Deduce 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding 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 Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Branding Deduce is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Branding Deduce 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 - Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Branding Deduce has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Susan Fournier suggests that, Branding Deduce 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.
Opportunities Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding | 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 Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Branding Deduce is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Branding Deduce 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.
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 Branding Deduce in the consumer business. Now Branding Deduce can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Branding Deduce can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Branding Deduce 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Branding Deduce can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Branding Deduce has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Branding Deduce to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding case study. Branding Deduce 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 Branding Deduce 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 Branding Deduce to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Branding Deduce to increase its market reach. Branding Deduce will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Branding Deduce 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Branding Deduce 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.
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. Branding Deduce 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. Branding Deduce 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Branding Deduce 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.
Threats Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Branding Deduce 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.
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 Branding Deduce business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Branding Deduce.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Branding Deduce 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.
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. Branding Deduce 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Branding Deduce has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Branding Deduce 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding, Branding Deduce 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 .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Branding Deduce is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Branding Deduce 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 Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding .
Increasing wage structure of Branding Deduce
– 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 Branding Deduce.
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. Branding Deduce 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 Branding Deduce with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding 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 Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding 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 Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding 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 Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding 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 Security Capital Pacific Trust: A Case for Branding 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 Branding Deduce needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.