THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative
Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative for product #PON124.Downtown Realty, Inc. owns the historic Bullard Houses, a set of 51 attached brownstones in the city of Gotham. The Houses, occupied for decades by the city's wealthy elite, have fallen into disrepair and are currently occupied only by a few low-income families. Downtown Realty has been prevented from demolishing the Houses by the Gothic Landmark Commission. Consequently, Downtown is eager to sell the property, and has several offers on the table. Downtown has not yet seen the offer of a fourth developer, Absentia, Ltd. Absentia is unfamiliar with Downtown's other offers, but is confident that its offer will be appealing, although it is unwilling to reveal its exact plans. The negotiation involves attorneys representing Downtown Realty and Absentia, Ltd. This is a role play case.
Swot Analysis of "THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative" written by Ron Karp, David Gold, Mox Tan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Downtown Absentia facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Government, Negotiations and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Downtown Absentia, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Downtown Absentia 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 BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Downtown Absentia
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 Downtown Absentia
Strengths THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Downtown Absentia in THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Downtown Absentia is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Downtown Absentia is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– Downtown Absentia has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Downtown Absentia to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Downtown Absentia in the sector have low bargaining power. THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Downtown Absentia to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Downtown Absentia 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 BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Downtown Absentia 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 Downtown Absentia in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Downtown Absentia
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Downtown Absentia does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Downtown Absentia to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Downtown Absentia to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Downtown Absentia 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 Downtown Absentia is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Training and development
– Downtown Absentia has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative 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.
Analytics focus
– Downtown Absentia 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 Ron Karp, David Gold, Mox Tan 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Downtown Absentia in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative 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 Downtown Absentia 's lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Downtown Absentia, firm in the HBR case study THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Downtown Absentia 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. Downtown Absentia 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative 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 THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Downtown Absentia is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Downtown Absentia has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Downtown Absentia has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative, is just above the industry average. Downtown Absentia 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.
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 Downtown Absentia supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Downtown Absentia vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Downtown Absentia is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Downtown Absentia needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Downtown Absentia to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Downtown Absentia 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ron Karp, David Gold, Mox Tan suggests that, Downtown Absentia 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.
Opportunities THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative | 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 BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative are -
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. Downtown Absentia can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Downtown Absentia 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Downtown Absentia 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Downtown Absentia can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Downtown Absentia can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Downtown Absentia can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Downtown Absentia has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Downtown Absentia to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative case study. Downtown Absentia can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Downtown Absentia 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 THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Downtown Absentia 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, Downtown Absentia 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Downtown Absentia to increase its market reach. Downtown Absentia 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Downtown Absentia in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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. Downtown Absentia 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. Downtown Absentia 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Downtown Absentia can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative are -
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 Downtown Absentia in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Downtown Absentia 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. Downtown Absentia can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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 BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative, Downtown Absentia 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 .
Regulatory challenges
– Downtown Absentia 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.
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 Downtown Absentia business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Downtown Absentia
– 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 Downtown Absentia.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Downtown Absentia with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
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. Downtown Absentia needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Downtown Absentia is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Downtown Absentia 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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Downtown Absentia 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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative 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 BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative 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 BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative 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 BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative 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 BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative 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 Downtown Absentia needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.