Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia
This case is intended for an advanced undergraduate course in finance, accounting, or arts management. It has been used successfully with both business and nonbusiness students. Three undergraduate students decide to start a new a cappella singing group with hopes of producing a CD the following year. The case provides opportunities for students to estimate funding needs, conduct scenario and sensitivity analyses, and use this information to develop strategies to accomplish the group's objectives.
Swot Analysis of "Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia" written by Mark White includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cappella Undergraduate facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Financial management, Strategic planning and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cappella Undergraduate, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cappella Undergraduate 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 Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cappella Undergraduate
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 Cappella Undergraduate
Strengths Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cappella Undergraduate in Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cappella Undergraduate 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 Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Cappella Undergraduate 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 Cappella Undergraduate in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia 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.
Organizational Resilience of Cappella Undergraduate
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cappella Undergraduate does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cappella Undergraduate is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– Cappella Undergraduate is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Cappella Undergraduate 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.
Training and development
– Cappella Undergraduate has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia 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.
Analytics focus
– Cappella Undergraduate 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 Mark White 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
– Cappella Undergraduate is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cappella Undergraduate in the sector have low bargaining power. Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cappella Undergraduate to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cappella Undergraduate to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cappella Undergraduate to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia are -
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 Cappella Undergraduate supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cappella Undergraduate vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Cappella Undergraduate 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. Cappella Undergraduate 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia 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 Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cappella Undergraduate is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Cappella Undergraduate is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Cappella Undergraduate needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Cappella Undergraduate to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia 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 Cappella Undergraduate has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cappella Undergraduate has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cappella Undergraduate 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 - Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Mark White suggests that, Cappella Undergraduate 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia, is just above the industry average. Cappella Undergraduate 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 Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia, in the dynamic environment Cappella Undergraduate has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cappella Undergraduate 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, Cappella Undergraduate is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia | 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 Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cappella Undergraduate 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.
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. Cappella Undergraduate can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Cappella Undergraduate can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cappella Undergraduate operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
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. Cappella Undergraduate can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cappella Undergraduate has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cappella Undergraduate to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia case study. Cappella Undergraduate can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cappella Undergraduate 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 Cappella Undergraduate to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Cappella Undergraduate 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. Cappella Undergraduate 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cappella Undergraduate 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.
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 Cappella Undergraduate in the consumer business. Now Cappella Undergraduate can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cappella Undergraduate 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, Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Cappella Undergraduate is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia 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 Cappella Undergraduate to increase its market reach. Cappella Undergraduate 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cappella Undergraduate 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.
Threats Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Cappella Undergraduate with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Cappella Undergraduate
– 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 Cappella Undergraduate.
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. Cappella Undergraduate needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cappella Undergraduate 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Cappella Undergraduate 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.
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 Cappella Undergraduate in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cappella Undergraduate has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cappella Undergraduate 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.
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. Cappella Undergraduate 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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Cappella Undergraduate 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.
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 Cappella Undergraduate business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Cappella Undergraduate can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cappella Undergraduate 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 Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia 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 Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia 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 Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia 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 Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia 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 Red, White & Hoos: A New A Cappella Group at the University of Virginia 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 Cappella Undergraduate needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
