Bringing Digital to Wimbledon SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Bringing Digital to Wimbledon
It was mid-December, 2016 as Alexandra (Alex) Willis read with satisfaction that The All England Lawn Tennis & Croquet Club (AELTC) had won yet another award for its use of social media to reach its fan base. As the organizer and host of "The Championships, Wimbledon," the oldest of tennis's four Grand Slams, the AELTC prided itself on tradition and decorum. Widely regarded as the most prestigious professional tennis tournament in the world and contested each year over two weeks in late June and early July, Wimbledon, in many ways, had changed little over the years. Its showcase venuea??the 15,000 seat "Centre Court," complete with a "Royal Box"a??was built in 1926. Slazenger had been the official and only supplier of tennis balls since 1902. A strictly enforced ban on any player clothing other than white dated back to the 1800s. And, whereas other tournaments referred to their Men's and Women's Championships, at Wimbledon, these events were referred to as the Gentlemen's and Ladies' Championships. It was against this "steeped-in-tradition" background that Willis, hired by Wimbledon in 2012 and promoted to Head of Digital and Content in 2015, had to figure out the proper role for digital and social media at Wimbledon. The motivation behind the push into digital was one of communicating and engaging with fans and potential fans around the world, as noted by Richard Lewis, Chief Executive of the AELTC.
Swot Analysis of "Bringing Digital to Wimbledon" written by John T. Gourville, David J. Arnold includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Wimbledon Aeltc facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Bringing Digital to Wimbledon case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Technology and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Bringing Digital to Wimbledon casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bringing Digital to Wimbledon
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Bringing Digital to Wimbledon case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Wimbledon Aeltc, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Wimbledon Aeltc 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 Bringing Digital to Wimbledon can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Bringing Digital to Wimbledon case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Wimbledon Aeltc
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 Wimbledon Aeltc
Strengths Bringing Digital to Wimbledon | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Wimbledon Aeltc in Bringing Digital to Wimbledon Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Wimbledon Aeltc 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 Wimbledon Aeltc in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Wimbledon Aeltc
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Wimbledon Aeltc does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Wimbledon Aeltc 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 Wimbledon Aeltc is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Bringing Digital to Wimbledon Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Wimbledon Aeltc digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Wimbledon Aeltc 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Wimbledon Aeltc 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 Bringing Digital to Wimbledon HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Wimbledon Aeltc has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Bringing Digital to Wimbledon 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
– Wimbledon Aeltc is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Bringing Digital to Wimbledon Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Wimbledon Aeltc is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Wimbledon Aeltc 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 Bringing Digital to Wimbledon - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– Bringing Digital to Wimbledon firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Wimbledon Aeltc to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Wimbledon Aeltc to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Wimbledon Aeltc 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 Bringing Digital to Wimbledon 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 Bringing Digital to Wimbledon | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bringing Digital to Wimbledon are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, John T. Gourville, David J. Arnold suggests that, Wimbledon Aeltc 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 Wimbledon Aeltc products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Wimbledon Aeltc needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Wimbledon Aeltc supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Bringing Digital to Wimbledon, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Wimbledon Aeltc vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Bringing Digital to Wimbledon, 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Wimbledon Aeltc is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Wimbledon Aeltc needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Wimbledon Aeltc to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Wimbledon Aeltc 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Bringing Digital to Wimbledon, is just above the industry average. Wimbledon Aeltc 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Wimbledon Aeltc 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
Wimbledon Aeltc 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Wimbledon Aeltc is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Bringing Digital to Wimbledon can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Bringing Digital to Wimbledon HBR case study mentions - Wimbledon Aeltc 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.
Opportunities Bringing Digital to Wimbledon | 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 Bringing Digital to Wimbledon are -
Loyalty marketing
– Wimbledon Aeltc 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Wimbledon Aeltc 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.
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. Wimbledon Aeltc can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Wimbledon Aeltc has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Bringing Digital to Wimbledon - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Wimbledon Aeltc to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Wimbledon Aeltc to increase its market reach. Wimbledon Aeltc 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Wimbledon Aeltc 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.
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 Wimbledon Aeltc 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Wimbledon Aeltc can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Wimbledon Aeltc operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Wimbledon Aeltc can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Wimbledon Aeltc 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, Bringing Digital to Wimbledon, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Wimbledon Aeltc 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Wimbledon Aeltc 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.
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. Wimbledon Aeltc 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. Wimbledon Aeltc 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.
Threats Bringing Digital to Wimbledon External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Bringing Digital to Wimbledon are -
Environmental challenges
– Wimbledon Aeltc 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. Wimbledon Aeltc can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Wimbledon Aeltc 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.
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 Wimbledon Aeltc.
Regulatory challenges
– Wimbledon Aeltc 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Wimbledon Aeltc is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Wimbledon Aeltc in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Wimbledon Aeltc with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Bringing Digital to Wimbledon, Wimbledon Aeltc 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 .
Increasing wage structure of Wimbledon Aeltc
– 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 Wimbledon Aeltc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Wimbledon Aeltc 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 Bringing Digital to Wimbledon .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Wimbledon Aeltc 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.
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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bringing Digital to Wimbledon 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 Bringing Digital to Wimbledon 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 Bringing Digital to Wimbledon 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 Bringing Digital to Wimbledon 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 Bringing Digital to Wimbledon 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 Wimbledon Aeltc needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
