Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A)
This case focuses on the topic of strategic selection, specifically whether or not the Taj Group should invest in The Pierre Hotel in New York. The case write-up includes information about the Taj Group, the Tata Group, The Pierre Hotel, the hotel industry, the Taj's domestic and international strategies, related challenges, investment options and selection criteria. It also includes various exhibits for the user to analyse: Taj's corporate holding structure, its financial highlights, strategic planning process, organisational chart, and the company's action plan development and deployment process.
Authors :: Gabriel Szulanski, Aekta Shyam, Raver Jenifer
Swot Analysis of "Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A)" written by Gabriel Szulanski, Aekta Shyam, Raver Jenifer includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Pierre Taj facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Pierre Taj, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Pierre Taj 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 Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Pierre Taj
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 Pierre Taj
Strengths Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Pierre Taj in Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Pierre Taj has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) 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.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Pierre Taj digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Pierre Taj 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Pierre Taj is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Pierre Taj 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 Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Pierre Taj is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Pierre Taj 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 Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) - 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Pierre Taj has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
High brand equity
– Pierre Taj has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Pierre Taj to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Pierre Taj 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Pierre Taj is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Pierre Taj in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Pierre Taj 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 - Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Pierre Taj 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Pierre Taj 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. Pierre Taj 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) 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 Pierre Taj has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) HBR case study mentions - Pierre Taj 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) 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 Pierre Taj 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Pierre Taj 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A), it seems that the employees of Pierre Taj 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Pierre Taj 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) 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 Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Pierre Taj is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Pierre Taj is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) | 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 Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Pierre Taj 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 Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Pierre Taj to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Pierre Taj 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.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Pierre Taj can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Pierre Taj in the consumer business. Now Pierre Taj can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Pierre Taj can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Pierre Taj is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) 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.
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. Pierre Taj 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
– Pierre Taj 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Pierre Taj can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Pierre Taj 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 Pierre Taj to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Pierre Taj 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Pierre Taj to increase its market reach. Pierre Taj 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Pierre Taj has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Pierre Taj to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) case study. Pierre Taj can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Pierre Taj 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.
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 Pierre Taj business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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. Pierre Taj 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.
Environmental challenges
– Pierre Taj 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. Pierre Taj can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Pierre Taj 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
– Pierre Taj 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Pierre Taj 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.
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 Pierre Taj in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Pierre Taj has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Pierre Taj needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Pierre Taj with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Pierre Taj
– 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 Pierre Taj.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) 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 Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) 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 Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) 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 Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) 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 Taj Hotels, Resorts & Palaces: To Pierre or Not to Pierre (A) 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 Pierre Taj needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
