The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel
The case presents data from 70,340 spins of four roulette wheels: three of which are real ("imperfect") and one of which is simulated ("perfect"). The challenge posed is to identify which of the four is the simulated wheel. After weeks spent recording spin results at their local casino, the members of the Pelayo family think they have identified three imperfect wheels. Before they start betting, they want to be certain that the three wheels they identified as imperfect are easily distinguishable from a theoretically perfect wheel. This case has been used successfully in Darden's MBA elective about data analysis. That course introduced pivot tables and the chi-squared goodness-of-fit test using the case "The Roulette Wheel." Discussion of "The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette" probably will not require an entire class period. One option would be to hand out the case during the discussion of "The Roulette Wheel" as something of a follow-on.
Authors :: Phillip E. Pfeifer, Samuel E Bodily, Manel Baucells
Swot Analysis of "The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel" written by Phillip E. Pfeifer, Samuel E Bodily, Manel Baucells includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Roulette Wheel facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
there is backlash against globalization, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Roulette Wheel, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Roulette Wheel 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 The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Roulette Wheel
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 Roulette Wheel
Strengths The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Roulette Wheel in The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Roulette Wheel is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Roulette Wheel 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 The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Roulette Wheel 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 The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Roulette Wheel 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 Phillip E. Pfeifer, Samuel E Bodily, Manel Baucells 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Roulette Wheel is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Roulette Wheel to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Roulette Wheel to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel 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.
Learning organization
- Roulette Wheel 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 Roulette Wheel is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Roulette Wheel is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel 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.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Roulette Wheel digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Roulette Wheel 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.
Organizational Resilience of Roulette Wheel
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Roulette Wheel does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Roulette Wheel is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel are -
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 Roulette Wheel supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Roulette Wheel vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Roulette Wheel, firm in the HBR case study The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Roulette Wheel has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Roulette Wheel is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel 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 The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Roulette Wheel is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Roulette Wheel 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 The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel 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 Roulette Wheel 's lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Phillip E. Pfeifer, Samuel E Bodily, Manel Baucells suggests that, Roulette Wheel is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel HBR case study mentions - Roulette Wheel 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Roulette Wheel 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel, in the dynamic environment Roulette Wheel has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Roulette Wheel has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel | 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 The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel are -
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Roulette Wheel 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. Roulette Wheel 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Roulette Wheel 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 Roulette Wheel to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Roulette Wheel has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Roulette Wheel to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel case study. Roulette Wheel can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Roulette Wheel 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, The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Roulette Wheel can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Roulette Wheel operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
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. Roulette Wheel can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Roulette Wheel can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Roulette Wheel to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Roulette Wheel to increase its market reach. Roulette Wheel 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.
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 Roulette Wheel in the consumer business. Now Roulette Wheel can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Roulette Wheel has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Roulette Wheel can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Roulette Wheel 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.
Threats The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel are -
Regulatory challenges
– Roulette Wheel 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.
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. Roulette Wheel needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Roulette Wheel in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Roulette Wheel 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.
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. Roulette Wheel can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Roulette Wheel 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. Roulette Wheel can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Roulette Wheel in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Roulette Wheel 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 The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel .
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 Roulette Wheel.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Roulette Wheel is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Roulette Wheel 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
– Roulette Wheel has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Roulette Wheel 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel 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 The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel 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 The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel 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 The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel 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 The Pelayo Family Plays Roulette: The Prequel 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 Roulette Wheel needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
