The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B)
On December 16, 2010, Byrne Murphy received a call from his Italian partner at Fingen Group. The recently-renovated Palazzo Tornabuoni, an iconic 15th century palace in the heart of Florence, Italy, had been seized by the local police. While Murphy tries to understand the reasons behind the seizure and figures out a strategy to accomodate guests flying in for holidays, he wonders if he and partners have chosen the right redevelopment option for the palace.
Authors :: Sid Yog, Arthur I Segel, Ricardo Andrade
Swot Analysis of "The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B)" written by Sid Yog, Arthur I Segel, Ricardo Andrade includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Tornabuoni Palazzo facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Tornabuoni Palazzo, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Tornabuoni Palazzo 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 The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Tornabuoni Palazzo
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 Tornabuoni Palazzo
Strengths The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Tornabuoni Palazzo in The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Tornabuoni Palazzo has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Tornabuoni Palazzo to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Tornabuoni Palazzo to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Tornabuoni Palazzo is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Tornabuoni Palazzo has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Tornabuoni Palazzo 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Tornabuoni Palazzo in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Tornabuoni Palazzo is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Tornabuoni Palazzo 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Tornabuoni Palazzo 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.
Analytics focus
– Tornabuoni Palazzo 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 Sid Yog, Arthur I Segel, Ricardo Andrade 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)
– Tornabuoni Palazzo 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 The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (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.
High brand equity
– Tornabuoni Palazzo has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Tornabuoni Palazzo to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Tornabuoni Palazzo 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 The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) 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 Tornabuoni Palazzo supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Tornabuoni Palazzo vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Tornabuoni Palazzo 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 - The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) 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, Sid Yog, Arthur I Segel, Ricardo Andrade suggests that, Tornabuoni Palazzo 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Tornabuoni Palazzo, firm in the HBR case study The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Tornabuoni Palazzo 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (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 The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Tornabuoni Palazzo is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Finance & Accounting strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) 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 Tornabuoni Palazzo 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Tornabuoni Palazzo is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Tornabuoni Palazzo needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Tornabuoni Palazzo to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Tornabuoni Palazzo 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Tornabuoni Palazzo 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.
Opportunities The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (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 The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Tornabuoni Palazzo can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Tornabuoni Palazzo operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Tornabuoni Palazzo 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Tornabuoni Palazzo 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Tornabuoni Palazzo is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Tornabuoni Palazzo 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Tornabuoni Palazzo 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Tornabuoni Palazzo 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.
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. Tornabuoni Palazzo can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Tornabuoni Palazzo 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Tornabuoni Palazzo has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Tornabuoni Palazzo to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) case study. Tornabuoni Palazzo can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Tornabuoni Palazzo can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Buying journey improvements
– Tornabuoni Palazzo can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Tornabuoni Palazzo 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, The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (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 The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Tornabuoni Palazzo 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B), Tornabuoni Palazzo 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 .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Tornabuoni Palazzo 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 The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (B) .
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. Tornabuoni Palazzo needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Tornabuoni Palazzo is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Tornabuoni Palazzo.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Tornabuoni Palazzo 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Tornabuoni Palazzo 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 Tornabuoni Palazzo business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Tornabuoni Palazzo with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Tornabuoni Palazzo 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.
Environmental challenges
– Tornabuoni Palazzo 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. Tornabuoni Palazzo can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (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 The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (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 The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (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 The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (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 The Redevelopment of Palazzo Tornabuoni (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 Tornabuoni Palazzo needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
