Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel
The MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas had detailed information on loyal gaming customers, but could its information systems also be tailored to nongaming customers? As the nongaming business sectors became increasingly profitable both at the MGM Grand and in Las Vegas generally, understanding the nongaming customers appeared to be of critical importance to the continuing growth of the resort.
Authors :: Dennis Campbell, F. Asis Martinez-Jerez, Marc J. Epstein, Joshua Bellin
Swot Analysis of "Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel" written by Dennis Campbell, F. Asis Martinez-Jerez, Marc J. Epstein, Joshua Bellin includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Nongaming Mgm facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Customers, Financial analysis, IT, Sales and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Nongaming Mgm, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Nongaming Mgm 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 Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Nongaming Mgm
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 Nongaming Mgm
Strengths Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Nongaming Mgm in Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Nongaming Mgm has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Nongaming Mgm 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Nongaming Mgm 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Nongaming Mgm 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 Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Nongaming Mgm in the sector have low bargaining power. Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Nongaming Mgm to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Nongaming Mgm digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Nongaming Mgm 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Nongaming Mgm is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Nongaming Mgm in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Analytics focus
– Nongaming Mgm 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 Dennis Campbell, F. Asis Martinez-Jerez, Marc J. Epstein, Joshua Bellin 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Nongaming Mgm to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Nongaming Mgm to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Nongaming Mgm is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel 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 Nongaming Mgm supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Nongaming Mgm vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Nongaming Mgm is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel, it seems that the employees of Nongaming Mgm 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Nongaming Mgm 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Nongaming Mgm 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. Nongaming Mgm 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Nongaming Mgm 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel HBR case study mentions - Nongaming Mgm 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel, 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel 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 Nongaming Mgm 's lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Dennis Campbell, F. Asis Martinez-Jerez, Marc J. Epstein, Joshua Bellin suggests that, Nongaming Mgm 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Nongaming Mgm 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 - Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel | 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 Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel are -
Loyalty marketing
– Nongaming Mgm 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.
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. Nongaming Mgm can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Nongaming Mgm is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel 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.
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 Nongaming Mgm in the consumer business. Now Nongaming Mgm can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Nongaming Mgm 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 Nongaming Mgm to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Nongaming Mgm can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Nongaming Mgm 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.
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. Nongaming Mgm can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Nongaming Mgm can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Technology & Operations segment.
Developing new processes and practices
– Nongaming Mgm 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Nongaming Mgm 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, Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Nongaming Mgm can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Nongaming Mgm 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, Nongaming Mgm 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 Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel are -
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Nongaming Mgm in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel, Nongaming Mgm 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 .
Regulatory challenges
– Nongaming Mgm 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.
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 Nongaming Mgm.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Nongaming Mgm 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 Nongaming Mgm 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 Nongaming Mgm with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Nongaming Mgm needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Nongaming Mgm 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Nongaming Mgm 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 Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Nongaming Mgm 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 Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel 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 Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel 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 Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel 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 Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel 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 Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel 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 Nongaming Mgm needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
Feel free to connect with us if you need business research.
You can download Excel Template of Case Study Solution & Analysis of Slots, Tables, and All that Jazz: Managing Customer Profitability at the MGM Grand Hotel