Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
Chronicles the background of the founding of the WNBA, its basic business concept, some of the key research information used by the NBA in launching it, and other related information. Students must analyze the "basic business model" involved and compare it to that of the American Basketball League (another women's professional league). Students must consider whether both leagues ultimately can be successful, only one, or neither.
Swot Analysis of "Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)" written by Stephen A. Greyser includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Wnba Basketball facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customers, Gender and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Wnba Basketball, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Wnba Basketball 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 Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Wnba Basketball
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 Wnba Basketball
Strengths Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Wnba Basketball in Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Wnba Basketball 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 Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Wnba Basketball 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 Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Wnba Basketball 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 Wnba Basketball in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Wnba Basketball is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Wnba Basketball
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Wnba Basketball does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Wnba Basketball 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 Stephen A. Greyser 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.
Training and development
– Wnba Basketball has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) 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 recruit top talent
– Wnba Basketball is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Sales & Marketing segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Wnba Basketball digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Wnba Basketball 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
– Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Wnba Basketball to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Wnba Basketball to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Wnba Basketball has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Wnba Basketball 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) 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 Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) HBR case study mentions - Wnba Basketball 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Wnba Basketball needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Lack of clear differentiation of Wnba Basketball products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Wnba Basketball needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) 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 Wnba Basketball 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Wnba Basketball has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), in the dynamic environment Wnba Basketball has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Wnba Basketball has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) 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 Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Wnba Basketball is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Wnba Basketball 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Wnba Basketball is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
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 Wnba Basketball supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Wnba Basketball vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Opportunities Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) | 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 Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) are -
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 Wnba Basketball in the consumer business. Now Wnba Basketball can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Wnba Basketball can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Wnba Basketball can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Wnba Basketball operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Wnba Basketball 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 Wnba Basketball to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Wnba Basketball has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Wnba Basketball 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.
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. Wnba Basketball can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Wnba Basketball 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Wnba Basketball 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Wnba Basketball has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Wnba Basketball to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) case study. Wnba Basketball can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Wnba Basketball 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 Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Wnba Basketball to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Wnba Basketball is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Wnba Basketball can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Threats Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) are -
Environmental challenges
– Wnba Basketball 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. Wnba Basketball can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Wnba Basketball 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.
Increasing wage structure of Wnba Basketball
– 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 Wnba Basketball.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Wnba Basketball with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Wnba Basketball business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Wnba Basketball 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.
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. Wnba Basketball can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Wnba Basketball 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 Wnba Basketball in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Wnba Basketball 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 Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Wnba Basketball 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 Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA), Wnba Basketball 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 Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) 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 Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) 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 Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) 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 Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) 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 Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) 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 Wnba Basketball needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.