Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation
Aurelia Dimas had been sent to investigate the various properties being offered by the State of California in the form of a sale-leaseback agreement. The opportunity was perfect for her firm, Orrington Financial Partners, which had recently expanded its fixed-income portfolio to include real estate. The wide range of offerings in the Golden State Portfolio provided both diversification and stability over a period of decades. She had spent the last week walking the halls of each and every building to see the offering first hand. Now the task of valuing the portfolio rested on her shoulders.
Authors :: Craig Furfine, Sara Lo, Daniel Kamerling
Swot Analysis of "Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation" written by Craig Furfine, Sara Lo, Daniel Kamerling includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Golden Portfolio facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, geopolitical disruptions, increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Golden Portfolio, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Golden Portfolio 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 Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Golden Portfolio
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 Golden Portfolio
Strengths Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Golden Portfolio in Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Golden Portfolio 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Golden Portfolio is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Golden Portfolio has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Golden Portfolio has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Golden Portfolio 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.
Learning organization
- Golden Portfolio 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 Golden Portfolio is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Golden Portfolio is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Golden Portfolio in the sector have low bargaining power. Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Golden Portfolio to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Golden Portfolio 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 Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation - 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
– Golden Portfolio has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Golden Portfolio to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Golden Portfolio 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Golden Portfolio in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Golden Portfolio to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Golden Portfolio to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation, is just above the industry average. Golden Portfolio needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation 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 Golden Portfolio has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation 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 Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Golden Portfolio is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation HBR case study mentions - Golden Portfolio 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Golden Portfolio 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Golden Portfolio needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation 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 Golden Portfolio '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 Golden Portfolio supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Golden Portfolio vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation, it seems that the employees of Golden Portfolio 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
– Golden Portfolio 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Golden Portfolio products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Golden Portfolio needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation | 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 Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation are -
Buying journey improvements
– Golden Portfolio can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Golden Portfolio 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Golden Portfolio 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.
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 Golden Portfolio in the consumer business. Now Golden Portfolio can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Golden Portfolio 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Golden Portfolio has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Golden Portfolio to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation case study. Golden Portfolio can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Golden Portfolio can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Golden Portfolio 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.
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 Golden Portfolio 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Golden Portfolio can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Golden Portfolio 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, Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Golden Portfolio 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 Golden Portfolio to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Golden Portfolio 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 Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation are -
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 Golden Portfolio.
Regulatory challenges
– Golden Portfolio 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.
Environmental challenges
– Golden Portfolio 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. Golden Portfolio can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
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 Golden Portfolio in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Golden Portfolio 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 Golden Portfolio is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Golden Portfolio can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Golden Portfolio 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.
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. Golden Portfolio 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
– Golden Portfolio has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Golden Portfolio needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation, Golden Portfolio 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 .
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 Golden Portfolio business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Golden Portfolio
– 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 Golden Portfolio.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation 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 Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation 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 Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation 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 Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation 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 Golden Opportunity: Commercial Real Estate Valuation 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 Golden Portfolio needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
