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 - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, 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 -
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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Minor Assignment 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.
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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Springfield Nor'easters: Maximizing Revenues in the Minor Leagues 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.
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.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Minor Assignment digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Minor Assignment 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Minor Assignment products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Minor Assignment needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Minor Assignment is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Minor Assignment needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Minor Assignment to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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.
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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Minor Assignment has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Minor Assignment even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
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 Minor Assignment in the consumer business. Now Minor Assignment can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Minor Assignment 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. Minor Assignment 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.
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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Minor Assignment 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 Minor Assignment to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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.
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.
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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Minor Assignment can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Minor Assignment operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Minor Assignment to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Manufacturing automation
– Minor Assignment 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.
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.
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 -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Minor Assignment 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Minor Assignment 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 Minor Assignment in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
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.
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 Minor Assignment.
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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Minor Assignment
– 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 Minor Assignment.
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.
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.
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 .
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.
