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THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

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.

Authors :: Ron Karp, David Gold, Mox Tan

Topics :: Strategy & Execution

Tags :: Financial management, Government, Negotiations, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

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 - – there is backlash against globalization, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc



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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 -

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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Downtown Absentia 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 THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

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.

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.

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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative 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.

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.

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.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Downtown Absentia is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Downtown Absentia 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.

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.






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 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Downtown Absentia 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 - THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative, 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.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Downtown Absentia is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Lack of clear differentiation of Downtown Absentia products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Downtown Absentia needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

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.

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.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Downtown Absentia 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.

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.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative 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 Downtown Absentia has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

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.




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 -

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.

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.

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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Downtown Absentia 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.

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 Downtown Absentia in the consumer business. Now Downtown Absentia can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Buying journey improvements

– Downtown Absentia can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative 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.

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.

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 Downtown Absentia 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Downtown Absentia can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Downtown Absentia operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Downtown Absentia 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 Strategy & Execution segment.

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.

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.




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 -

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. Downtown Absentia needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Downtown Absentia can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study THE BULLARD HOUSES - Confidential Instructions for the Seller's Representative .

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.

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. Downtown Absentia 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.

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.

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 Downtown Absentia.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Downtown Absentia in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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.

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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Downtown Absentia 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.

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 .

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.

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.




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.



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