Case Study Description of Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense
In the summer of 2002, Brad and Brent Handler established Exclusive Resorts, a luxury vacation residence venture, to meet the demand for luxury vacation residences that avoided the hassles of owning a second home and being tied to a single location. The challenge was to position the venture in both the market and nonmarket environments. The positioning in the market environment was successful, and Exclusive Resorts was an instant success. In the nonmarket environment, Exclusive Resorts was organized like a country club, allowing it to avoid state time-share regulations. The success of Exclusive Resorts soon spurred others to enter the luxury vacation residence club industry and, at the same time, nonmarket threats began to grow. The American Resort Development Association (ARDA) had many concerns: Were luxury vacation residence clubs operating outside the law (consumers were not protected by state time-share law)? Were contractual arrangements transparent to consumers? Could possible fraud or failures among the clubs tarnish the entire resort development industry, including its members? ARDA sought to have luxury vacation residence clubs registered in the states in which they held properties and in which they sold memberships. If state registration were required, Exclusive Resorts would be subject to costly and burdensome regulations. Indeed, a core component of the Exclusive Resorts business model, inventory replacement via the sale of residences, would be prohibited.
Swot Analysis of "Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense" written by David P. Baron includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Resorts Vacation facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Regulation, Strategic planning and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Resorts Vacation, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Resorts Vacation 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 Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Resorts Vacation
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 Resorts Vacation
Strengths Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Resorts Vacation in Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Resorts Vacation
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Resorts Vacation does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Resorts Vacation has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Resorts Vacation 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Resorts Vacation 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Resorts Vacation is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Resorts Vacation 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 Resorts Vacation is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Resorts Vacation 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 David P. Baron 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Resorts Vacation is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Resorts Vacation is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense 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
– Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Resorts Vacation to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Resorts Vacation to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Resorts Vacation 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 Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense - 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
– Resorts Vacation has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Resorts Vacation is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense, it seems that the employees of Resorts Vacation 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Resorts Vacation 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. Resorts Vacation 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense HBR case study mentions - Resorts Vacation 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Resorts Vacation products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Resorts Vacation 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 Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense 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 Resorts Vacation '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 Resorts Vacation supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Resorts Vacation vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Resorts Vacation is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, David P. Baron suggests that, Resorts Vacation 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Resorts Vacation 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Resorts Vacation, firm in the HBR case study Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense, in the dynamic environment Resorts Vacation has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Resorts Vacation has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense | 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 Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Resorts Vacation 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Resorts Vacation 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Resorts Vacation 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 Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Resorts Vacation to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Resorts Vacation 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
– Resorts Vacation 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.
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 Resorts Vacation 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Resorts Vacation 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Resorts Vacation has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Resorts Vacation to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense case study. Resorts Vacation can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Resorts Vacation 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. Resorts Vacation 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Resorts Vacation to increase its market reach. Resorts Vacation 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Resorts Vacation can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Resorts Vacation operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
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 Resorts Vacation in the consumer business. Now Resorts Vacation can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Resorts Vacation can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense 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.
Threats Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense 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 Resorts Vacation in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Resorts Vacation can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Resorts Vacation 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 Resorts Vacation 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.
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 Resorts Vacation.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Resorts Vacation 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.
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. Resorts Vacation needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Resorts Vacation business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Resorts Vacation
– 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 Resorts Vacation.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Resorts Vacation 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Resorts Vacation 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.
Environmental challenges
– Resorts Vacation 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. Resorts Vacation 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 Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense, Resorts Vacation 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense 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 Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense 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 Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense 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 Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense 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 Exclusive Resorts: Entrepreneurial Positioning and Nonmarket Defense 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 Resorts Vacation needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
