Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World
This case describes the history, operations, and economics of Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway) in Sonoma, California, and the challenges facing the racetrack as a result of the economic recession of 2008-9. The racetrack's most important race is a NASCAR Sprint Cup event. It also hosts IndyCar, NHRA drag races, and other events. Speedway Motorsports Inc. purchased the track in 1996, and made substantial a capital investment to improve the spectator experience. The track is heavily dependent, financially, on corporate sponsorship. Its naming rights agreement with Infineon Technologies was expiring in 2012, and many of its other corporate sponsors were cutting back or ending their sponsorships due to economic stress. The case describes the advantages of corporate sponsorship, and the ways in which a company can utilized sponsorship to build its brand, reward and motivate employees, drive retail traffic to stores and distributors, and entertain customers. The case includes a 10 page appendix with background information of the basic types of motor racing and descriptions of major racetracks in California.
Authors :: George Foster, Norm O'Reilly, David W. Hoyt
Swot Analysis of "Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World" written by George Foster, Norm O'Reilly, David W. Hoyt includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Raceway Infineon facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Motivating people and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Raceway Infineon, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Raceway Infineon 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 Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Raceway Infineon
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 Raceway Infineon
Strengths Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Raceway Infineon in Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Raceway Infineon
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Raceway Infineon does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Raceway Infineon in the sector have low bargaining power. Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Raceway Infineon to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Raceway Infineon in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to lead change in Sales & Marketing field
– Raceway Infineon 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 Raceway Infineon in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Raceway Infineon 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 Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Raceway Infineon has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Raceway Infineon to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Raceway Infineon 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 George Foster, Norm O'Reilly, David W. Hoyt 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 Raceway Infineon 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Raceway Infineon has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Raceway Infineon 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Raceway Infineon is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Raceway Infineon 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.
Learning organization
- Raceway Infineon 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 Raceway Infineon is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Raceway Infineon 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Raceway Infineon is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Sales & Marketing segment. Raceway Infineon needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Raceway Infineon to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Raceway Infineon products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Raceway Infineon 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 Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World 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 Raceway Infineon 's lucrative 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 Raceway Infineon supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Raceway Infineon vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World HBR case study mentions - Raceway Infineon 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World, in the dynamic environment Raceway Infineon has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Raceway Infineon has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World, is just above the industry average. Raceway Infineon 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Raceway Infineon, firm in the HBR case study Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World, it seems that the employees of Raceway Infineon 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Raceway Infineon 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.
Opportunities Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World | 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 Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World are -
Manufacturing automation
– Raceway Infineon 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Raceway Infineon can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World 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.
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. Raceway Infineon can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Raceway Infineon 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, Raceway Infineon 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.
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 Raceway Infineon 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Raceway Infineon 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Raceway Infineon 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Raceway Infineon 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 Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Raceway Infineon to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Raceway Infineon 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 Raceway Infineon to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Raceway Infineon can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Raceway Infineon can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, 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 Raceway Infineon in the consumer business. Now Raceway Infineon can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World are -
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 Raceway Infineon.
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. Raceway Infineon needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Raceway Infineon is facing in Sales & Marketing sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Raceway Infineon with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Raceway Infineon in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Raceway Infineon
– 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 Raceway Infineon.
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. Raceway Infineon 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Raceway Infineon 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Raceway Infineon 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.
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. Raceway Infineon can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World, Raceway Infineon 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 Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World 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 Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World 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 Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World 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 Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World 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 Infineon Raceway (Sears Point Raceway): Marketing in the Motorsports World 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 Raceway Infineon needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.