Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium
Since its foundation in 1902, Bocconi has been a teaching institution with a dominant domestic presence. The case examines the currently unfolding attempt at transforming Bocconi University into a research powerhouse with the ambition to build a strong position among Europe's leading business schools. The case offers a detailed analysis of Bocconi's transformational journey, and illustrates the challenges of changing the mindset of a large portion of the faculty.
Swot Analysis of "Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium" written by Giovanni Gavetti, Anna Canato includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bocconi Bocconi's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, Influence, Psychology, Strategic planning and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bocconi Bocconi's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bocconi Bocconi's 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 Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bocconi Bocconi's
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Bocconi Bocconi's
Strengths Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bocconi Bocconi's in Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Bocconi Bocconi's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bocconi Bocconi's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bocconi Bocconi's is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bocconi Bocconi's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bocconi Bocconi's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Bocconi Bocconi's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bocconi Bocconi's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bocconi Bocconi's 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.
Learning organization
- Bocconi Bocconi's 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 Bocconi Bocconi's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Bocconi Bocconi's has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bocconi Bocconi's 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bocconi Bocconi's in the sector have low bargaining power. Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bocconi Bocconi's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Bocconi Bocconi's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bocconi Bocconi's does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Bocconi Bocconi's is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Bocconi Bocconi's 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 Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Bocconi Bocconi's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium 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.
Weaknesses Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium, is just above the industry average. Bocconi Bocconi's 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 Bocconi Bocconi's, firm in the HBR case study Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium 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 Bocconi Bocconi's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Bocconi Bocconi's 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 - Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bocconi Bocconi's is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Bocconi Bocconi's is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Bocconi Bocconi's needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bocconi Bocconi's to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Bocconi Bocconi's 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium 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 Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bocconi Bocconi's is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Bocconi Bocconi's 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Bocconi Bocconi's 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.
Opportunities Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium | 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 Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium are -
Buying journey improvements
– Bocconi Bocconi's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Bocconi Bocconi's 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 Bocconi Bocconi's 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Bocconi Bocconi's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Bocconi Bocconi's 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. Bocconi Bocconi's can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bocconi Bocconi's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bocconi Bocconi's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium case study. Bocconi Bocconi's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Bocconi Bocconi's in the consumer business. Now Bocconi Bocconi's 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 Bocconi Bocconi's 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bocconi Bocconi's 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Bocconi Bocconi's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Bocconi Bocconi's 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 Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bocconi Bocconi's to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bocconi Bocconi's 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Bocconi Bocconi's 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 Bocconi Bocconi's to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Bocconi Bocconi's can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bocconi Bocconi's 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.
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. Bocconi Bocconi's 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium, Bocconi Bocconi's may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
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 Bocconi Bocconi's.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bocconi Bocconi's 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.
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 Bocconi Bocconi's in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Bocconi Bocconi's 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bocconi Bocconi's with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Bocconi Bocconi's
– 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 Bocconi Bocconi's.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bocconi Bocconi's 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.
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. Bocconi Bocconi's needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium 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 Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium 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 Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium 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 Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium 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 Universita' Bocconi: Transformation in the New Millennium 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 Bocconi Bocconi's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.