Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain
With 26 casinos in 13 U.S. states and $4.5 billion in revenue in 2003, Harrah's Entertainment Inc. was one of the leading brand names in the casino entertainment industry. Bill Harrah, the founder of Harrah's, was passionate about getting to know his customers and had instilled a deeply rooted commitment to customer satisfaction into Harrah's corporate philosophy. In 2003, Harrah's was focused on building loyalty and value with its target customers through a unique combination of great service, excellent products, unsurpassed distribution, operational excellence, and technology leadership. Through innovative customer relationship management strategies, effective management of its service supply chain, and sizable investments in enabling information technology, the company was at the forefront in attracting, serving, and retaining its customers.
Authors :: Hau Lee, Seungjin Whang, Kamram Ahsan, Earl Gordon
Swot Analysis of "Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain" written by Hau Lee, Seungjin Whang, Kamram Ahsan, Earl Gordon includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Harrah's Entertainment facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IT, Supply chain and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing,
geopolitical disruptions, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Harrah's Entertainment, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Harrah's Entertainment 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 Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Harrah's Entertainment
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 Harrah's Entertainment
Strengths Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Harrah's Entertainment in Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Harrah's Entertainment in the sector have low bargaining power. Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Harrah's Entertainment to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Harrah's Entertainment 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 Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain - 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
– Harrah's Entertainment 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 Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Harrah's Entertainment is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Technology & Operations industry
– Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Harrah's Entertainment to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Technology & Operations industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Harrah's Entertainment to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Harrah's Entertainment 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 Harrah's Entertainment in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Harrah's Entertainment is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Harrah's Entertainment 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 Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Harrah's Entertainment in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Harrah's Entertainment 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Harrah's Entertainment is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Harrah's Entertainment needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain HBR case study mentions - Harrah's Entertainment 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain, in the dynamic environment Harrah's Entertainment has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Harrah's Entertainment has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Harrah's Entertainment is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Harrah's Entertainment 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Harrah's Entertainment, firm in the HBR case study Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Harrah's Entertainment is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Harrah's Entertainment needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Harrah's Entertainment to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Harrah's Entertainment has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Harrah's Entertainment 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. Harrah's Entertainment 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain 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 Harrah's Entertainment has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain, 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.
Opportunities Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain | 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 Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Harrah's Entertainment is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain 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 Harrah's Entertainment in the consumer business. Now Harrah's Entertainment can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Developing new processes and practices
– Harrah's Entertainment 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Harrah's Entertainment can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Harrah's Entertainment operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Technology & Operations sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Harrah's Entertainment 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Harrah's Entertainment 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.
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. Harrah's Entertainment 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. Harrah's Entertainment 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Harrah's Entertainment has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Harrah's Entertainment to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain case study. Harrah's Entertainment can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Harrah's Entertainment can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Harrah's Entertainment 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Harrah's Entertainment to increase its market reach. Harrah's Entertainment 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Harrah's Entertainment 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Harrah's Entertainment 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.
Threats Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Harrah's Entertainment is facing in Technology & Operations sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Harrah's Entertainment in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Harrah's Entertainment.
Increasing wage structure of Harrah's Entertainment
– 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 Harrah's Entertainment.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Harrah's Entertainment 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.
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. Harrah's Entertainment can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Harrah's Entertainment 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.
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 Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain, Harrah's Entertainment 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 .
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. Harrah's Entertainment needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Harrah's Entertainment 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. Harrah's Entertainment can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
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. Harrah's Entertainment 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Harrah's Entertainment with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain 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 Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain 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 Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain 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 Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain 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 Harrah's Entertainment Inc.: Real-Time CRM in a Service Supply Chain 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 Harrah's Entertainment needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.