The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A)
In the A case, Disney CEO Michael Eisner pondered whether to go forward with his plans for a U.S. history theme park called Disney's America, located in Prince William County, Virginia. The case depicts the origins of the Disney idea, one that Eisner hoped would distinguish his personal legacy and the company's work with local and state governmental officials. Alongside of these pro-growth efforts, opposition to the project grew. Originally the terms of the debate were about growth and environmental impact. After the project was approved by the state of Virginia, however, the terms of the controversy shifted to the sacred ground of the historical area. On these terms, Disney's image of wholesome family fun was tarnished and portrayed as saccharine "McHistory." The B case provides an epilogue and interpretations about why Disney ultimately abandoned the project.
Swot Analysis of "The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A)" written by Elizabeth A. Powell, Sarah Stover includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Disney's Disney facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Public relations, Regulation and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Disney's Disney, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Disney's Disney 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 Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Disney's Disney
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 Disney's Disney
Strengths The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Disney's Disney in The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Disney's Disney is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) 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 Disney's Disney in the sector have low bargaining power. The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Disney's Disney to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Disney's Disney 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 Elizabeth A. Powell, Sarah Stover 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Disney's Disney 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 Disney's Disney 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Disney's Disney to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Disney's Disney to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Disney's Disney 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 Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Disney's Disney has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) 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
– Disney's Disney 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 Disney's Disney in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Disney's Disney 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 Disney's Disney is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Disney's Disney is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) 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 The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A), is just above the industry average. Disney's Disney 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A), in the dynamic environment Disney's Disney has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Disney's Disney has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Disney's Disney is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Disney's Disney 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Disney's Disney is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Disney's Disney needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Disney's Disney 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 Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) 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 Disney's Disney 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A), 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Disney's Disney, firm in the HBR case study The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) HBR case study mentions - Disney's Disney 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, Disney's Disney 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) 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 Disney's Disney has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) | 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 Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) are -
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 Disney's Disney 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Disney's Disney can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Disney's Disney 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Disney's Disney 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Disney's Disney can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) 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 Disney's Disney to increase its market reach. Disney's Disney 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Disney's Disney 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Disney's Disney 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.
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. Disney's Disney 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 Disney's Disney in the consumer business. Now Disney's Disney can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Disney's Disney 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.
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. Disney's Disney can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Disney's Disney is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) 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.
Threats The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) are -
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. Disney's Disney can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Disney's Disney 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Disney's Disney 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 Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Disney's Disney 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Disney's Disney can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Disney's Disney with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Environmental challenges
– Disney's Disney 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. Disney's Disney 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 Disney's Disney 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.
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 Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A), Disney's Disney 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 .
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.
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. Disney's Disney needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Disney's Disney business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) 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 Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) 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 Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) 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 Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) 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 Third Battle of Bull Run: The Disney's America Theme Park (A) 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 Disney's Disney needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.