Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next?
easyGroup is contemplating its entry into the cinema exhibition business in the UK through the launch of a no-frills cinema. The company believes that it can redeploy the capabilities, such as yield management, that led to the success of easyJet, its low cost airline business, into this new venture. The case examines the market for cinema in the UK, as well as the evolution of easyGroup's portfolio of companies, with a view to assessing the attractiveness of the company's planned launch of easyCinema.
Swot Analysis of "Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next?" written by Yves L. Doz, Anita Balchandani includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cinema Easygroup facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, Risk management and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cinema Easygroup, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cinema Easygroup 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 Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cinema Easygroup
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 Cinema Easygroup
Strengths Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cinema Easygroup in Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Cinema Easygroup has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Cinema Easygroup 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cinema Easygroup to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cinema Easygroup to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cinema Easygroup digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cinema Easygroup 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cinema Easygroup in the sector have low bargaining power. Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cinema Easygroup to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cinema Easygroup is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? 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 lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Cinema Easygroup 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 Cinema Easygroup in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cinema Easygroup is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cinema Easygroup 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 Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Cinema Easygroup
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cinema Easygroup does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cinema Easygroup in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Cinema Easygroup is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Cinema Easygroup is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Cinema Easygroup 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, Cinema Easygroup 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. Cinema Easygroup 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Cinema Easygroup products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Cinema Easygroup needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Cinema Easygroup has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? HBR case study mentions - Cinema Easygroup 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 Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? 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 Cinema Easygroup 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Cinema Easygroup is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Cinema Easygroup needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Cinema Easygroup to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cinema Easygroup is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next?, it seems that the employees of Cinema Easygroup 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.
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 Cinema Easygroup supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cinema Easygroup vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cinema Easygroup 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 - Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? | 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 Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cinema Easygroup 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cinema Easygroup in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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. Cinema Easygroup can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cinema Easygroup to increase its market reach. Cinema Easygroup 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cinema Easygroup 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cinema Easygroup 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 Cinema Easygroup to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cinema Easygroup 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, Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next?, 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, Cinema Easygroup is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Cinema Easygroup can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cinema Easygroup operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cinema Easygroup can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cinema Easygroup 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Cinema Easygroup can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? 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 Cinema Easygroup has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cinema Easygroup to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? case study. Cinema Easygroup can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? 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 Cinema Easygroup in the Strategy & Execution 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 Cinema Easygroup 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Cinema Easygroup 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.
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. Cinema Easygroup can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cinema Easygroup 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 Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? .
Environmental challenges
– Cinema Easygroup 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. Cinema Easygroup can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cinema Easygroup 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.
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.
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. Cinema Easygroup 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cinema Easygroup has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cinema Easygroup 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 Cinema Easygroup with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cinema Easygroup is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? 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 Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? 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 Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? 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 Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? 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 Extending the "easy" Business Model: What Should easyGroup Do Next? 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 Cinema Easygroup needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.