Swot Analysis of "Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B)" written by H. Kent Bowen, Alison Berkley Wagonfeld includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Raiser Stratford facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Costs, Demographics, Ethics, Supply chain and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, technology disruption,
increasing energy prices, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Raiser Stratford, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Raiser Stratford 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 Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Raiser Stratford
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Technology & Operations field.
4. Making a Technology & Operations topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Raiser Stratford
Strengths Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Raiser Stratford in Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to recruit top talent
– Raiser Stratford is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Raiser Stratford
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Raiser Stratford does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Raiser Stratford has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Raiser Stratford to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Raiser Stratford to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Raiser Stratford to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Raiser Stratford has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Raiser Stratford 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Raiser Stratford 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Raiser Stratford 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 Raiser Stratford in the sector have low bargaining power. Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Raiser Stratford to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Raiser Stratford 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 Raiser Stratford is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Raiser Stratford 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 H. Kent Bowen, Alison Berkley Wagonfeld 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Raiser Stratford 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 Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Raiser Stratford is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) 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 Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Raiser Stratford is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B), in the dynamic environment Raiser Stratford has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Raiser Stratford has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Raiser Stratford is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Raiser Stratford 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Raiser Stratford 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. Raiser Stratford 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B), it seems that the employees of Raiser Stratford 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 Raiser Stratford, firm in the HBR case study Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Raiser Stratford has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Raiser Stratford 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Raiser Stratford 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Raiser Stratford 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.
Opportunities Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) | 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 Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) are -
Loyalty marketing
– Raiser Stratford 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.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Raiser Stratford to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Raiser Stratford 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 Raiser Stratford to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Raiser Stratford can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) 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 Raiser Stratford in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Technology & Operations segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Raiser Stratford 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 Technology & Operations industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Raiser Stratford 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. Raiser Stratford 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, Raiser Stratford can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Raiser Stratford operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Raiser Stratford can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Technology & Operations 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Raiser Stratford has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Raiser Stratford to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) case study. Raiser Stratford can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Raiser Stratford is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Raiser Stratford to increase its market reach. Raiser Stratford 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Raiser Stratford 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, Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) are -
Increasing wage structure of Raiser Stratford
– 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 Raiser Stratford.
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. Raiser Stratford 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Raiser Stratford 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 Technology & Operations industry regulations.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Technology & Operations field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Raiser Stratford can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Raiser Stratford 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Raiser Stratford 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Raiser Stratford is facing in Technology & Operations 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, Raiser Stratford 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 Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) .
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 Raiser Stratford in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Raiser Stratford 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.
Environmental challenges
– Raiser Stratford 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. Raiser Stratford can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Raiser Stratford in the Technology & Operations industry. The Technology & Operations 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 Raiser Stratford.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) 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 Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) 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 Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) 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 Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) 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 Raiser Senior Services--The Stratford (B) 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 Raiser Stratford needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
