Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly
Walt Disney is contemplating sites for a new theme park, building on the success of Disneyland in Anaheim. The focus is on Disney's strategy for land negotiation and acquisition, which is informed by his experience with the Anaheim park.
Swot Analysis of "Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly" written by Michael A. Wheeler, Georgia Levenson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Anaheim Disney facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Negotiations and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Anaheim Disney, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Anaheim Disney 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 Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Anaheim Disney
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 Anaheim Disney
Strengths Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Anaheim Disney in Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Anaheim Disney is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Anaheim Disney 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 Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Anaheim Disney 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Anaheim Disney in the sector have low bargaining power. Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Anaheim Disney to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Anaheim Disney to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Anaheim Disney to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Anaheim Disney is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly 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.
High brand equity
– Anaheim Disney has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Anaheim Disney to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Anaheim Disney in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Anaheim Disney 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Anaheim Disney is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Anaheim Disney is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Anaheim Disney in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– Anaheim Disney has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly 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.
Weaknesses Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Anaheim Disney is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Anaheim Disney is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Anaheim Disney needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Anaheim Disney to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Anaheim Disney 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Anaheim Disney products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Anaheim Disney needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly 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 Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Anaheim Disney is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Anaheim Disney 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. Anaheim Disney 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 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 Anaheim Disney supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Anaheim Disney vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Anaheim Disney 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 strategic competitive environment developments
– As Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly HBR case study mentions - Anaheim Disney takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Michael A. Wheeler, Georgia Levenson suggests that, Anaheim Disney 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.
Opportunities Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly | 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 Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Anaheim Disney 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 Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Anaheim Disney to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Anaheim Disney is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Anaheim Disney 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, Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Anaheim Disney has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Anaheim Disney to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly case study. Anaheim Disney 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
– Anaheim Disney 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.
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. Anaheim Disney can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Anaheim Disney 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Anaheim Disney 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Anaheim Disney 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Anaheim Disney 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Anaheim Disney can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Anaheim Disney 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. Anaheim Disney 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Anaheim Disney can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Anaheim Disney operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Threats Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Anaheim Disney 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 Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly .
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 Anaheim Disney business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Anaheim Disney
– 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 Anaheim Disney.
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. Anaheim Disney can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Anaheim Disney 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.
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. Anaheim Disney 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 Anaheim Disney in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Anaheim Disney 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. Anaheim Disney can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Anaheim Disney 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Anaheim Disney has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Anaheim Disney 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Anaheim Disney 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Anaheim Disney 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly 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 Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly 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 Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly 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 Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly 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 Disney (A): From Disneyland to Disney World, Learning the Art of Land Assembly 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 Anaheim Disney needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.