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Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Indore City Bus Transport Service (A)


Towards the end of 90s, mounting losses forced Madhya Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (MPSRTC), the sole provider of public transport in Madhya Pradesh, to suspend their urban services. As a consequence, organized public transport services ceased to exist in Indore, the largest metropolitan city of the state of Madhya Pradesh. This void was filled by Intermediate Public Transport (IPT) consisting of minibuses, tempos and auto rickshaws. As of January 2004, 300 private minibuses, 150 tempos, and 10,000 auto rickshaws were plying as IPT, but with poor service levels. Lack of public transport was a catalyst for rapid increase in personalized vehicles, and high level of pollution and accidents. Worried over the rapid growth of personalized vehicles, and high levels of pollution and accidents in Indore, policy makers and administrators had made several attempts of reviving the public transport system in the city. In 2005, the Collector and District Magistrate of Indore decided to make another attempt of reviving the public transport. The two cases, Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) and Indore City Bus Transport Service (B) discuss the complexity involved in the planning, rolling out, and running of public transport services in Indore on a sustainable basis.

Authors :: G. Raghuram, Satyam Shivam Sundaram

Topics :: Technology & Operations

Tags :: , SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Indore City Bus Transport Service (A)" written by G. Raghuram, Satyam Shivam Sundaram includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Transport Indore facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Technology & Operations.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Indore City Bus Transport Service (A)


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Transport Indore, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Transport Indore 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 Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Transport Indore
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 Transport Indore




Strengths Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Transport Indore in Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -

Highly skilled collaborators

– Transport Indore 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 Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Transport Indore 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 Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) - 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 switching costs

– The high switching costs that Transport Indore 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry

– Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Transport Indore to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Transport Indore to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Analytics focus

– Transport Indore 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 G. Raghuram, Satyam Shivam Sundaram 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.

Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field

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

Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Transport Indore digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Transport Indore 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.

Learning organization

- Transport Indore 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 Transport Indore is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Organizational Resilience of Transport Indore

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

Ability to recruit top talent

– Transport Indore is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Diverse revenue streams

– Transport Indore is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) 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.

Training and development

– Transport Indore has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) 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.






Weaknesses Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) are -

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Transport Indore 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.

Lack of clear differentiation of Transport Indore products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Transport Indore needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Transport Indore is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Slow decision making process

– As mentioned earlier in the report, Transport Indore 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. Transport Indore 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.

Need for greater diversity

– Transport Indore 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

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

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Transport Indore 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Transport Indore 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 - Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) 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, G. Raghuram, Satyam Shivam Sundaram suggests that, Transport Indore 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Indore City Bus Transport Service (A), in the dynamic environment Transport Indore has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Transport Indore has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) 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 Transport Indore has relatively successful track record of launching new products.




Opportunities Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) | 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 Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) are -

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Transport Indore 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 Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Transport Indore to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Developing new processes and practices

– Transport Indore 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Transport Indore 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Transport Indore 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Transport Indore 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.

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 Transport Indore in the consumer business. Now Transport Indore can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Transport Indore to increase its market reach. Transport Indore 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, Transport Indore 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, Indore City Bus Transport Service (A), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Transport Indore has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Transport Indore to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) case study. Transport Indore can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

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. Transport Indore 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. Transport Indore 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.

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. Transport Indore can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Transport Indore 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, Transport Indore 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.




Threats Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) are -

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 Transport Indore business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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. Transport Indore can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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. Transport Indore 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.

Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc

– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Transport Indore 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 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. Transport Indore needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Transport Indore with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Transport Indore 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 wage structure of Transport Indore

– 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 Transport Indore.

Regulatory challenges

– Transport Indore 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.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Transport Indore 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 Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) .

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Indore City Bus Transport Service (A), Transport Indore 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 .

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Transport Indore 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.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) 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 Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) 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 Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) 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 Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) 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 Indore City Bus Transport Service (A) 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 Transport Indore needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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