Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C)
The C case provides data on the reliability of both the F100 jet engine by Pratt and Whitney and the rival F110 by General Electric from 1975 to 1990. In addition, the case charts a proxy for the number of contractual disputes from 1970 to 1987 for all subsidiaries of the parent companies of Pratt and Whitney and General Electric.
Swot Analysis of "Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C)" written by Matthias Hild, Keith J. Crocker includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Pratt Whitney facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Negotiations, Risk management, Technology and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Pratt Whitney, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Pratt Whitney 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 Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Pratt Whitney
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 Pratt Whitney
Strengths Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Pratt Whitney in Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Pratt Whitney to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Pratt Whitney to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Pratt Whitney is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Pratt Whitney 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 Matthias Hild, Keith J. Crocker 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) 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
- Pratt Whitney 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 Pratt Whitney is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Pratt Whitney in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Pratt Whitney 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.
Organizational Resilience of Pratt Whitney
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Pratt Whitney does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Pratt Whitney 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
– Pratt Whitney is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Pratt Whitney has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Pratt Whitney 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 Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Pratt Whitney digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Pratt Whitney 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.
Weaknesses Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) 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 Pratt Whitney has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) 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 Pratt Whitney 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C), in the dynamic environment Pratt Whitney has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Pratt Whitney has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Pratt Whitney 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Pratt Whitney 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Pratt Whitney 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 - Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Pratt Whitney 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.
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 Pratt Whitney supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Pratt Whitney vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Pratt Whitney products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Pratt Whitney needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Pratt Whitney 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. Pratt Whitney 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Pratt Whitney, firm in the HBR case study Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) | 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 Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) are -
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. Pratt Whitney can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Pratt Whitney 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 Pratt Whitney to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Pratt Whitney 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 Pratt Whitney in the consumer business. Now Pratt Whitney can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Pratt Whitney 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, Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Pratt Whitney is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Pratt Whitney 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 Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Pratt Whitney to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Pratt Whitney 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Pratt Whitney 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Pratt Whitney can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Pratt Whitney in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Pratt Whitney to increase its market reach. Pratt Whitney 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Pratt Whitney can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Pratt Whitney 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.
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 Pratt Whitney.
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. Pratt Whitney 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.
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.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Pratt Whitney high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
Environmental challenges
– Pratt Whitney 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. Pratt Whitney can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Increasing wage structure of Pratt Whitney
– 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 Pratt Whitney.
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 Pratt Whitney in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Pratt Whitney needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Pratt Whitney is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Pratt Whitney 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 Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Pratt Whitney has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Pratt Whitney 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 Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) 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 Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) 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 Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) 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 Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) 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 Pushing the Envelope: Engine Development and Procurement for the F-15 Fighter Jet (C) 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 Pratt Whitney needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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