A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common
A securitized small real estate investment vehicle fails and the many individual owners have to decide how to manage or dispose of the asset. This case follows Ruby Collins, a small investor, through the logic of Section 1031 Like Kind Exchanges as well as the consideration of Tenant in Common ownership. Tenancy in Common has some attractive aspects but its regulation falls between a security and a real estate investment. The risk and control characteristics also vary. This case explores both the valuation of the property and the logistical issues around managing it, and also the relationships between individuals who now find themselves business partners with no prior familiarity with each other.
Swot Analysis of "A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common" written by John D. Macomber, Kristian Peterson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ruby Collins facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ruby Collins, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ruby Collins 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 A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ruby Collins
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Finance & Accounting field.
4. Making a Finance & Accounting topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Ruby Collins
Strengths A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ruby Collins in A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common 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.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ruby Collins digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ruby Collins 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ruby Collins 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 A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ruby Collins 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 A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Ruby Collins has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ruby Collins to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Ruby Collins 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 Ruby Collins is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Ruby Collins 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 John D. Macomber, Kristian Peterson 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ruby Collins is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common 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 Finance & Accounting industry
– A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ruby Collins to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ruby Collins to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Ruby Collins is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Ruby Collins
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ruby Collins does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ruby Collins 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.
Weaknesses A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ruby Collins 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common 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 Ruby Collins 's lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, John D. Macomber, Kristian Peterson suggests that, Ruby Collins 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Ruby Collins 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ruby Collins is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common 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 Ruby Collins products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ruby Collins needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common, it seems that the employees of Ruby Collins 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ruby Collins is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Ruby Collins needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ruby Collins to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Finance & Accounting 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Ruby Collins, firm in the HBR case study A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ruby Collins 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. Ruby Collins 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 A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common | 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 A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common are -
Loyalty marketing
– Ruby Collins 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ruby Collins in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Manufacturing automation
– Ruby Collins can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ruby Collins 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, A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ruby Collins is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ruby Collins 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 A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ruby Collins to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Ruby Collins can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ruby Collins has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ruby Collins to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common case study. Ruby Collins can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ruby Collins 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 Finance & Accounting segment.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ruby Collins 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ruby Collins 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ruby Collins 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 Ruby Collins to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ruby Collins can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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.
Threats A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common are -
Increasing wage structure of Ruby Collins
– 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 Ruby Collins.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ruby Collins 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. Ruby Collins needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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 Ruby Collins in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Ruby Collins business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Ruby Collins 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 A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common, Ruby Collins may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ruby Collins is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ruby Collins 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Ruby Collins 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 Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Ruby Collins can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common 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 A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common 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 A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common 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 A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common 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 A Slice of the Pie: Ruby Collins and Tenants in Common 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 Ruby Collins needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.