Deflategate and the National Football League SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Deflategate and the National Football League
On January 18, 2015, the New England Patriots faced the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship game. In the second quarter, a Colts player intercepted a pass from Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Colts equipment personnel alerted NFL officials that the ball's air pressure was below the required 12.5 PSI (pounds per square inch). Some argued that lower PSI provided a competitive advantage as it made the ball easier to grip and harder to fumble. At halftime, game officials found the air pressure in 11 of the 12 Patriots game balls to be under 12.5 PSI. The NFL launched an investigation into what became known in the media as "Deflategate," and commissioned attorney Ted Wells to investigate whether or not the balls had been intentionally deflated. Wells' team, with expert consultants, examined air pressure data recorded by referees, the temperature on game day, the behavior of Patriots players, and other evidence. Did the Deflategate investigation reveal any actual evidence of cheating? Were there flaws in Wells' investigation?
Swot Analysis of "Deflategate and the National Football League" written by Marco Iansiti, Christine Snively includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Patriots Colts facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Deflategate and the National Football League case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Operations management and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Deflategate and the National Football League casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Deflategate and the National Football League
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Deflategate and the National Football League case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Patriots Colts, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Patriots Colts 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 Deflategate and the National Football League can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Deflategate and the National Football League case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Patriots Colts
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 Patriots Colts
Strengths Deflategate and the National Football League | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Patriots Colts in Deflategate and the National Football League Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Patriots Colts is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Deflategate and the National Football League Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Patriots Colts is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Deflategate and the National Football League 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.
High brand equity
– Patriots Colts has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Patriots Colts to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Patriots Colts in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Patriots Colts 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 Patriots Colts in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Patriots Colts 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 Marco Iansiti, Christine Snively 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)
– Patriots Colts 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 Deflategate and the National Football League - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Patriots Colts has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Patriots Colts has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Patriots Colts 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.
Organizational Resilience of Patriots Colts
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Patriots Colts does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Patriots Colts has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Deflategate and the National Football League 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Patriots Colts is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Deflategate and the National Football League | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Deflategate and the National Football League are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though Patriots Colts 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 - Deflategate and the National Football League should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Deflategate and the National Football League, it seems that the employees of Patriots Colts 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Patriots Colts 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 Patriots Colts is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Patriots Colts needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Patriots Colts to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Patriots Colts products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Patriots Colts 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, Patriots Colts is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Deflategate and the National Football League can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Patriots Colts, firm in the HBR case study Deflategate and the National Football League needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Deflategate and the National Football League, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Technology & Operations 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Deflategate and the National Football League, is just above the industry average. Patriots Colts 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Deflategate and the National Football League 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 Deflategate and the National Football League can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Patriots Colts is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Deflategate and the National Football League 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 Patriots Colts has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Deflategate and the National Football League | 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 Deflategate and the National Football League are -
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. Patriots Colts 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. Patriots Colts 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Patriots Colts 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 Patriots Colts to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Patriots Colts has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Patriots Colts to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Deflategate and the National Football League case study. Patriots Colts can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Patriots Colts 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.
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. Patriots Colts can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Patriots Colts 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 Deflategate and the National Football League - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Patriots Colts to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Patriots Colts can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Deflategate and the National Football League 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Patriots Colts can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Technology & Operations segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Patriots Colts to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Patriots Colts can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Patriots Colts operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Patriots Colts 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Patriots Colts can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Patriots Colts to increase its market reach. Patriots Colts 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 Deflategate and the National Football League External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Deflategate and the National Football League are -
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.
Environmental challenges
– Patriots Colts 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. Patriots Colts can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Patriots Colts demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Regulatory challenges
– Patriots Colts 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, Patriots Colts 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 Deflategate and the National Football League .
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. Patriots Colts 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. Patriots Colts 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Patriots Colts 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.
Increasing wage structure of Patriots Colts
– 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 Patriots Colts.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Patriots Colts 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Patriots Colts has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Patriots Colts needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Technology & Operations 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Patriots Colts 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Patriots Colts is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Deflategate and the National Football League 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 Deflategate and the National Football League 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 Deflategate and the National Football League 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 Deflategate and the National Football League 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 Deflategate and the National Football League 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 Patriots Colts needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.