The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues
When students have the English-language PDF of this Brief Case in a coursepack, they will also have the option to purchase an audio version.The marketing director of a new minor-league baseball team must design, conduct, and then interpret survey research to determine optimal ticket pricing that will yield large attendance figures and contribute to the owner's goal of breaking even in the first year of play. The pricing assignment becomes more challenging when other variables like concessions revenue are considered. Students are asked to complete a quantitative assignment as part of case analysis, but they must grapple with less quantifiable factors as well.
Authors :: Frank V. Cespedes, Laura Winig, Christopher H. Lovelock
Swot Analysis of "The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues" written by Frank V. Cespedes, Laura Winig, Christopher H. Lovelock includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Minor Assignment facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Market research, Pricing and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Minor Assignment, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Minor Assignment 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 Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Minor Assignment
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 Minor Assignment
Strengths The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Minor Assignment in The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Minor Assignment has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Minor Assignment 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Minor Assignment to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Minor Assignment to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Minor Assignment 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 The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Minor Assignment is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Minor Assignment 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.
Analytics focus
– Minor Assignment 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 Frank V. Cespedes, Laura Winig, Christopher H. Lovelock 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Minor Assignment is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues 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 Minor Assignment in the sector have low bargaining power. The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Minor Assignment to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Minor Assignment has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Minor Assignment to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Minor Assignment has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues 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.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Minor Assignment 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 Minor Assignment in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Minor Assignment is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues, in the dynamic environment Minor Assignment has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Minor Assignment has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues, is just above the industry average. Minor Assignment 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
– Minor Assignment 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues 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 Minor Assignment 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Minor Assignment 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 - The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Minor Assignment, firm in the HBR case study The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Minor Assignment 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.
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 Minor Assignment supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Minor Assignment vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues HBR case study mentions - Minor Assignment 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 The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues, it seems that the employees of Minor Assignment 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues, 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.
Opportunities The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues | 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 Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Minor Assignment 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 Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Minor Assignment can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Minor Assignment 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 The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Minor Assignment to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Minor Assignment 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Minor Assignment 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Minor Assignment can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Minor Assignment to increase its market reach. Minor Assignment will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Minor Assignment can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Minor Assignment has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Minor Assignment to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues case study. Minor Assignment can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Minor Assignment is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues 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.
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 Minor Assignment 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.
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. Minor Assignment can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Minor Assignment 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.
Threats The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Minor Assignment 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 Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues .
Environmental challenges
– Minor Assignment 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. Minor Assignment 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 Minor Assignment with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Minor Assignment 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Minor Assignment 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
– Minor Assignment 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.
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 Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues, Minor Assignment 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 .
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 Minor Assignment business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Minor Assignment needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Minor Assignment 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.
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 Minor Assignment in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Minor Assignment demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues 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 Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues 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 Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues 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 Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues 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 Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues 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 Minor Assignment needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
