Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance
Describes the resolution of the default situation. Further examines the internal control mechanisms and distinct role of the board of directors of a typical LBO association.
Authors :: Michael C. Jensen, Jay Dial, Brian Barry
Swot Analysis of "Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance" written by Michael C. Jensen, Jay Dial, Brian Barry includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Lbo Berkshire facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Mergers & acquisitions and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Lbo Berkshire, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Lbo Berkshire 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 Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Lbo Berkshire
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 Lbo Berkshire
Strengths Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Lbo Berkshire in Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Lbo Berkshire 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 Michael C. Jensen, Jay Dial, Brian Barry 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Lbo Berkshire is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Lbo Berkshire 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Lbo Berkshire has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Lbo Berkshire 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Lbo Berkshire is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Lbo Berkshire is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Lbo Berkshire 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 Lbo Berkshire is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Lbo Berkshire to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Lbo Berkshire to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Lbo Berkshire has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance 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.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Lbo Berkshire digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Lbo Berkshire 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
– Lbo Berkshire 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 Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance 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 Lbo Berkshire 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.
Weaknesses Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance HBR case study mentions - Lbo Berkshire 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance 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 Lbo Berkshire 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Lbo Berkshire products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Lbo Berkshire needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Finance & Accounting strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Lbo Berkshire is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance, it seems that the employees of Lbo Berkshire don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance, is just above the industry average. Lbo Berkshire 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance, in the dynamic environment Lbo Berkshire has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Lbo Berkshire has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Lbo Berkshire 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. Lbo Berkshire 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Lbo Berkshire 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance 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 Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Lbo Berkshire is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance | 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 Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance are -
Manufacturing automation
– Lbo Berkshire can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
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 Lbo Berkshire in the consumer business. Now Lbo Berkshire can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Lbo Berkshire 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Lbo Berkshire 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Lbo Berkshire to increase its market reach. Lbo Berkshire 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Lbo Berkshire 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
– Lbo Berkshire can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Lbo Berkshire can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Finance & Accounting segment.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Lbo Berkshire 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Lbo Berkshire 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, Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Lbo Berkshire can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Lbo Berkshire 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Lbo Berkshire 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. Lbo Berkshire 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.
Threats Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Lbo Berkshire with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Lbo Berkshire 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 Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Lbo Berkshire has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Lbo Berkshire 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Lbo Berkshire can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Lbo Berkshire in the Finance & Accounting 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Lbo Berkshire 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.
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. Lbo Berkshire needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Lbo Berkshire.
Environmental challenges
– Lbo Berkshire 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. Lbo Berkshire can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Lbo Berkshire 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.
Increasing wage structure of Lbo Berkshire
– 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 Lbo Berkshire.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance 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 Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance 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 Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance 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 Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance 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 Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance 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 Lbo Berkshire needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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