PSA: The World's Port of Call SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of PSA: The World's Port of Call
Details the evolution of an e-business strategy and capabilities over a 16-year period. What began in 1984 as an effort to automate the port of Singapore to achieve productivity savings, by 2000 had evolved into a global e-business called Portnet.com. Closes as senior managers contemplate the progress they have made and the challenges still ahead.
Swot Analysis of "PSA: The World's Port of Call" written by Lynda M. Applegate, Nancy Bartlett, Dolly Chang-Leow, Boon Siong Neo includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Port Portnet.com facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in PSA: The World's Port of Call case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Policy, Strategic planning and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the PSA: The World's Port of Call casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of PSA: The World's Port of Call
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in PSA: The World's Port of Call case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Port Portnet.com, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Port Portnet.com 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 PSA: The World's Port of Call can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in PSA: The World's Port of Call case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Port Portnet.com
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 Port Portnet.com
Strengths PSA: The World's Port of Call | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Port Portnet.com in PSA: The World's Port of Call Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Port Portnet.com is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in PSA: The World's Port of Call 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 Port Portnet.com in the sector have low bargaining power. PSA: The World's Port of Call has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Port Portnet.com to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Port Portnet.com has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Port Portnet.com 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
– PSA: The World's Port of Call firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Port Portnet.com to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Port Portnet.com to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Port Portnet.com is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the PSA: The World's Port of Call are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Port Portnet.com in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Port Portnet.com 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.
Training and development
– Port Portnet.com has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in PSA: The World's Port of Call 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.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Port Portnet.com 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 Port Portnet.com 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 PSA: The World's Port of Call 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Port Portnet.com 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 PSA: The World's Port of Call HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Port Portnet.com digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Port Portnet.com 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.
Weaknesses PSA: The World's Port of Call | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of PSA: The World's Port of Call are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Port Portnet.com 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. Port Portnet.com 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Lynda M. Applegate, Nancy Bartlett, Dolly Chang-Leow, Boon Siong Neo suggests that, Port Portnet.com 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Port Portnet.com 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study PSA: The World's Port of Call, is just above the industry average. Port Portnet.com 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study PSA: The World's Port of Call 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 Port Portnet.com 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the PSA: The World's Port of Call 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 Port Portnet.com has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Port Portnet.com 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 - PSA: The World's Port of Call should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Port Portnet.com 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As PSA: The World's Port of Call HBR case study mentions - Port Portnet.com 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study PSA: The World's Port of Call, it seems that the employees of Port Portnet.com 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 Port Portnet.com, firm in the HBR case study PSA: The World's Port of Call needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities PSA: The World's Port of Call | 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 PSA: The World's Port of Call are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Port Portnet.com 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 Technology & Operations segment.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Port Portnet.com 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Port Portnet.com has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Port Portnet.com to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the PSA: The World's Port of Call case study. Port Portnet.com can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Port Portnet.com in the consumer business. Now Port Portnet.com can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Port Portnet.com 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Port Portnet.com can develop new processes and procedures in Technology & Operations 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Port Portnet.com 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Port Portnet.com 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
– Port Portnet.com can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. PSA: The World's Port of Call 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Port Portnet.com 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 PSA: The World's Port of Call - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Port Portnet.com to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Port Portnet.com 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 Port Portnet.com to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Technology & Operations industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Port Portnet.com can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Port Portnet.com to increase its market reach. Port Portnet.com 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.
Threats PSA: The World's Port of Call External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study PSA: The World's Port of Call are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Port Portnet.com with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Port Portnet.com in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Port Portnet.com 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
– Port Portnet.com 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Port Portnet.com is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study PSA: The World's Port of Call, Port Portnet.com may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Technology & Operations .
Increasing wage structure of Port Portnet.com
– 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 Port Portnet.com.
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 Port Portnet.com.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Port Portnet.com 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Port Portnet.com 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Port Portnet.com 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 PSA: The World's Port of Call .
Environmental challenges
– Port Portnet.com 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. Port Portnet.com can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of PSA: The World's Port of Call 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 PSA: The World's Port of Call 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 PSA: The World's Port of Call 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 PSA: The World's Port of Call 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 PSA: The World's Port of Call 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 Port Portnet.com needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
