Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store?
After five years of working at the Mountainview Country Club, Sandi Lane must decide which of several courses of action to take in response to financial improprieties committed by her supervisor and some co-workers. The Club's general partner has refused to act on Lane's concerns. Her supervisor's wife who also worked at the Club has just threatened Lane: "I'll see to it that you don't work here anymore!" As Controller of the Club, Lane was responsible for all aspects of the accounting functions -- but, with no staff. She handled payroll and tax preparation, human resources, budget and financial statement preparation, membership tracking, and cash flow forecasting. She spent much of her time at the Club trying to implement basic accounting procedures. Cash flows were precarious with one of the partners in the Club making expenditures of $20,000 and more without regard to budgets or cash availability. The food/beverage area had losses of $60,000 annually and inventory shrinkage in the Pro Shop was more than $100,000 each year.
Swot Analysis of "Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store?" written by Carolyn Conn, Aundrea K. Guess includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Club Lane facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Ethics and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, increasing commodity prices,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Club Lane, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Club Lane 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 Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Club Lane
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 Club Lane
Strengths Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Club Lane in Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Club Lane 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Club Lane is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– Club Lane is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Club Lane 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 Club Lane
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Club Lane does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Club Lane has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? 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.
High brand equity
– Club Lane has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Club Lane to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Club Lane to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Club Lane to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Club Lane 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 Carolyn Conn, Aundrea K. Guess 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)
– Club Lane 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 Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Club Lane 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 Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Club Lane 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 Club Lane in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Club Lane is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store?, 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Club Lane is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Club Lane needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Club Lane to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Club Lane 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. Club Lane 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Club Lane has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Club Lane 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 - Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? HBR case study mentions - Club Lane 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Carolyn Conn, Aundrea K. Guess suggests that, Club Lane 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Club Lane products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Club Lane needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store?, is just above the industry average. Club Lane 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 Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? 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 Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Club Lane is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? | 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 Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Club Lane can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Club Lane has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Club Lane to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? case study. Club Lane can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Club Lane is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? 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.
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 Club Lane 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Club Lane 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Club Lane 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, Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Club Lane 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 Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Club Lane to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Club Lane in the consumer business. Now Club Lane can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Club Lane 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. Club Lane 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 Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Club Lane can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Club Lane 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Club Lane can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? 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.
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. Club Lane can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Club Lane has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Club Lane needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Finance & Accounting sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
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 Club Lane.
Increasing wage structure of Club Lane
– 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 Club Lane.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Club Lane 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 Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store?, Club Lane 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 .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Club Lane is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Club Lane can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Club Lane with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Club Lane in the Finance & Accounting industry. The Finance & Accounting industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Regulatory challenges
– Club Lane 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.
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.
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. Club Lane needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Club Lane 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? 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 Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? 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 Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? 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 Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? 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 Mountainview Country Club: Who's Minding the Store? 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 Club Lane needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
