Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

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

Topics :: Finance & Accounting

Tags :: Financial management, Mergers & acquisitions, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

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 - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc

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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.

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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

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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 -

High brand equity

– Lbo Berkshire has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Lbo Berkshire to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

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.

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.

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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance 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.

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.

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.

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.

Organizational Resilience of Lbo Berkshire

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Lbo Berkshire does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Lbo Berkshire in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous 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.

Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field

– Lbo Berkshire 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 Lbo Berkshire in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

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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 -

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Lbo Berkshire has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance 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 Lbo Berkshire has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

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 Lbo Berkshire supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Lbo Berkshire vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Lbo Berkshire 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Lbo Berkshire 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 - Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

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.

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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Lbo Berkshire is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Lbo Berkshire needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Lbo Berkshire to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

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.

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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Lbo Berkshire, firm in the HBR case study Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

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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 -

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Lbo Berkshire can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Lbo Berkshire 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Lbo Berkshire can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Lbo Berkshire operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Lbo Berkshire 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 Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Lbo Berkshire to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

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.

Loyalty marketing

– Lbo Berkshire 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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Lbo Berkshire is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance 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.

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.

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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 -

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 .

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 Lbo Berkshire business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Lbo Berkshire is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Wisconsin Central Ltd. Railroad and Berkshire Partners (B): LBO Associations and Corporate Governance, Lbo Berkshire may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Finance & Accounting .

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.

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.

Regulatory challenges

– Lbo Berkshire needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Finance & Accounting industry regulations.

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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Lbo Berkshire 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.

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.

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.

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.

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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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