Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision
A large Ontario ski resort faces a decision about whether to invest in facilities for night skiing. Demand is very uncertain, so the management undertakes a market research study. Day skiers at the facility are surveyed about their potential interest during the months of February and March. The resort's management is suspicious about the validity of the results of the research, but has no time to collect further data.
Swot Analysis of "Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision" written by Terry H. Deutscher, Susan Burke includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Skiing Night facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Market research and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Skiing Night, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Skiing Night 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 Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Skiing Night
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 Skiing Night
Strengths Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Skiing Night in Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Skiing Night has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Skiing Night to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Skiing Night is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Skiing Night
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Skiing Night does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision 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.
Analytics focus
– Skiing Night 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 Terry H. Deutscher, Susan Burke 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Skiing Night in the sector have low bargaining power. Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Skiing Night to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Skiing Night 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Skiing Night 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Skiing Night 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 Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Skiing Night 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 Skiing Night in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Skiing Night in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Skiing Night is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision 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.
Weaknesses Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Terry H. Deutscher, Susan Burke suggests that, Skiing Night is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Skiing Night, firm in the HBR case study Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Skiing Night 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 Skiing Night products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Skiing Night needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision, in the dynamic environment Skiing Night has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Skiing Night 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 Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision 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 Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Skiing Night is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Skiing Night is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Skiing Night needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Skiing Night to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Skiing Night 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. Skiing Night 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision 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 Skiing Night has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Skiing Night supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Skiing Night vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Skiing Night 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 - Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision | 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 Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision are -
Loyalty marketing
– Skiing Night 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 Skiing Night 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.
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 Skiing Night 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Skiing Night 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Skiing Night 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Skiing Night 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Skiing Night 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Skiing Night 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 Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Skiing Night 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, Skiing Night is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision 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.
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 Skiing Night in the consumer business. Now Skiing Night 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. Skiing Night 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. Skiing Night 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.
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. Skiing Night can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Skiing Night can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Skiing Night operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
Threats Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision are -
Increasing wage structure of Skiing Night
– 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 Skiing Night.
Regulatory challenges
– Skiing Night 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.
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 Skiing Night.
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 Skiing Night 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. Skiing Night needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Skiing Night can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Skiing Night with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Skiing Night 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Skiing Night 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.
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.
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 Skiing Night business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Skiing Night 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.
Environmental challenges
– Skiing Night 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. Skiing Night can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision 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 Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision 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 Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision 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 Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision 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 Blue Mountain Resorts Ltd.: The Night Skiing Decision 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 Skiing Night needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.