Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006
This case centers around a dispute between the owners and the players regarding the profitability of professional baseball teams in connection with the negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement. The case describes the financial statements of the baseball club Kansas City Zephyrs, and discusses several items whose accounting treatment is under dispute between owners and players. Students are asked to resolve these disagreements and determine the team's "true" profitability. The discussion reveals the tensions in performance measurement, and illustrates the fundamental issues in accrual accounting. The case is best used as an introductory case in a course on financial reporting or performance measurement.
Swot Analysis of "Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006" written by Krishna G. Palepu includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Baseball Zephyrs facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices,
increasing commodity prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Baseball Zephyrs, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Baseball Zephyrs 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 Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Baseball Zephyrs
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 Baseball Zephyrs
Strengths Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Baseball Zephyrs in Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Baseball Zephyrs 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 Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Baseball Zephyrs 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 Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Baseball Zephyrs has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Baseball Zephyrs to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Baseball Zephyrs to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Baseball Zephyrs has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Baseball Zephyrs is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 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.
Analytics focus
– Baseball Zephyrs 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 Krishna G. Palepu 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.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Baseball Zephyrs digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Baseball Zephyrs is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Baseball Zephyrs is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Baseball Zephyrs
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Baseball Zephyrs does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Baseball Zephyrs 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. Baseball Zephyrs even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 HBR case study mentions - Baseball Zephyrs takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Lack of clear differentiation of Baseball Zephyrs products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Baseball Zephyrs needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Baseball Zephyrs 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 - Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Baseball Zephyrs is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Baseball Zephyrs needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Baseball Zephyrs to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006, 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.
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 Baseball Zephyrs supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Baseball Zephyrs vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Baseball Zephyrs is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Baseball Zephyrs 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 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 Baseball Zephyrs 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Opportunities Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 | 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 Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Baseball Zephyrs can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Baseball Zephyrs can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Baseball Zephyrs has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Baseball Zephyrs to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 case study. Baseball Zephyrs can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Baseball Zephyrs 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 Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Baseball Zephyrs to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Baseball Zephyrs 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. Baseball Zephyrs can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Baseball Zephyrs can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Baseball Zephyrs can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Baseball Zephyrs operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Baseball Zephyrs in the consumer business. Now Baseball Zephyrs can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Baseball Zephyrs can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Threats Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 are -
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. Baseball Zephyrs needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Baseball Zephyrs 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 Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 .
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006, Baseball Zephyrs 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 .
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 Baseball Zephyrs in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Baseball Zephyrs is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Baseball Zephyrs.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Baseball Zephyrs in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Baseball Zephyrs 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 Baseball Zephyrs
– 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 Baseball Zephyrs.
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. Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 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 Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 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 Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 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 Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 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 Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc. 2006 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 Baseball Zephyrs needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.