Tottenham Hotspur Football Club is a publicly-owned professional soccer team based in London, England. The club's chairman, Daniel Levy, is contemplating a significant investment in physical assets, including the development of a new stadium as well as the acquisition of a new player. The team must decide if the expected cash flows associated with adding the stadium, the player, or both, warrant the considerable required investments in these assets
Authors :: Joshua D Coval, Lauren H. Cohen, Christopher Malloy
Swot Analysis of "Tottenham Hotspur plc" written by Joshua D Coval, Lauren H. Cohen, Christopher Malloy includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hotspur Tottenham facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Tottenham Hotspur plc case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Budgeting, Decision making, Financial analysis, Operations management and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Tottenham Hotspur plc casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Tottenham Hotspur plc
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Tottenham Hotspur plc case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hotspur Tottenham, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hotspur Tottenham 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 Tottenham Hotspur plc can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Tottenham Hotspur plc case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hotspur Tottenham
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 Hotspur Tottenham
Strengths Tottenham Hotspur plc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hotspur Tottenham in Tottenham Hotspur plc Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Hotspur Tottenham 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 Tottenham Hotspur plc - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Hotspur Tottenham in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Tottenham Hotspur plc 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Hotspur Tottenham has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Hotspur Tottenham 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.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Hotspur Tottenham digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Hotspur Tottenham has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Hotspur Tottenham 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 Tottenham Hotspur plc HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Hotspur Tottenham 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
– Hotspur Tottenham 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
– Hotspur Tottenham has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Tottenham Hotspur plc 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Hotspur Tottenham in the sector have low bargaining power. Tottenham Hotspur plc has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Hotspur Tottenham to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Hotspur Tottenham is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Tottenham Hotspur plc 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
– Hotspur Tottenham 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 Joshua D Coval, Lauren H. Cohen, Christopher Malloy 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.
Weaknesses Tottenham Hotspur plc | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Tottenham Hotspur plc are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Hotspur Tottenham 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 - Tottenham Hotspur plc should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Hotspur Tottenham 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Hotspur Tottenham 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Hotspur Tottenham is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Tottenham Hotspur plc can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Hotspur Tottenham has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Hotspur Tottenham 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Hotspur Tottenham is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Hotspur Tottenham needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Hotspur Tottenham to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Hotspur Tottenham 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. Hotspur Tottenham 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 Tottenham Hotspur plc 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 Hotspur Tottenham has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Hotspur Tottenham, firm in the HBR case study Tottenham Hotspur plc needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Tottenham Hotspur plc, is just above the industry average. Hotspur Tottenham 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.
Opportunities Tottenham Hotspur plc | 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 Tottenham Hotspur plc are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Hotspur Tottenham 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Hotspur Tottenham is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Tottenham Hotspur plc 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Hotspur Tottenham 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Hotspur Tottenham has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Hotspur Tottenham to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Tottenham Hotspur plc case study. Hotspur Tottenham can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Hotspur Tottenham 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.
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 Hotspur Tottenham in the consumer business. Now Hotspur Tottenham can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Hotspur Tottenham can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Tottenham Hotspur plc 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.
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. Hotspur Tottenham can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Hotspur Tottenham 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 Tottenham Hotspur plc - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Hotspur Tottenham to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Hotspur Tottenham can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Hotspur Tottenham 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 Hotspur Tottenham to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Hotspur Tottenham 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Hotspur Tottenham to increase its market reach. Hotspur Tottenham 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.
Threats Tottenham Hotspur plc External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Tottenham Hotspur plc are -
Regulatory challenges
– Hotspur Tottenham 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.
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 Hotspur Tottenham in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Tottenham Hotspur plc, Hotspur Tottenham 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 .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Hotspur Tottenham with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Hotspur Tottenham business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Hotspur Tottenham
– 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 Hotspur Tottenham.
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 Hotspur Tottenham.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Hotspur Tottenham is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Hotspur Tottenham 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Hotspur Tottenham has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Hotspur Tottenham 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.
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. Hotspur Tottenham needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Hotspur Tottenham 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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Tottenham Hotspur plc 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 Tottenham Hotspur plc 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 Tottenham Hotspur plc 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 Tottenham Hotspur plc 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 Tottenham Hotspur plc 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 Hotspur Tottenham needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
