Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Technology & Operations
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh
Bill Strickland, executive director of both Bidwell Training Center and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild, has built a highly successful training organization to enable underprivileged minorities in Pittsburgh to escape the cycle of poverty. His success has led to questions of expansion, focus, and core competencies.
Swot Analysis of "Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh" written by James L. Heskett, Roger Hallowell includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Craftsmen's Bidwell facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Social enterprise and Technology & Operations.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, technology disruption, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Craftsmen's Bidwell, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Craftsmen's Bidwell 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 Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Craftsmen's Bidwell
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 Craftsmen's Bidwell
Strengths Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Craftsmen's Bidwell in Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Craftsmen's Bidwell is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Training and development
– Craftsmen's Bidwell has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Craftsmen's Bidwell 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 Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Craftsmen's Bidwell is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Craftsmen's Bidwell is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Craftsmen's Bidwell 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 James L. Heskett, Roger Hallowell can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Ability to lead change in Technology & Operations field
– Craftsmen's Bidwell 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 Craftsmen's Bidwell in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
Digital Transformation in Technology & Operations segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Craftsmen's Bidwell digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
High brand equity
– Craftsmen's Bidwell has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Craftsmen's Bidwell to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Craftsmen's Bidwell is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Craftsmen's Bidwell in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh are -
Need for greater diversity
– Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Craftsmen's Bidwell products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Craftsmen's Bidwell needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh, it seems that the employees of Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Craftsmen's Bidwell is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Craftsmen's Bidwell 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 - Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Craftsmen's Bidwell has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Craftsmen's Bidwell is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Technology & Operations segment. Craftsmen's Bidwell needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Craftsmen's Bidwell to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Craftsmen's Bidwell 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. Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh 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 Craftsmen's Bidwell has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
Opportunities Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh | 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 Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh 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. Craftsmen's Bidwell 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. Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Craftsmen's Bidwell 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 Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Craftsmen's Bidwell to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Craftsmen's Bidwell has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Craftsmen's Bidwell to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh case study. Craftsmen's Bidwell can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Craftsmen's Bidwell can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Craftsmen's Bidwell can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
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 Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Craftsmen's Bidwell 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, Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Craftsmen's Bidwell has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Technology & Operations industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
Environmental challenges
– Craftsmen's Bidwell 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. Craftsmen's Bidwell can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Technology & Operations industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Craftsmen's Bidwell with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Craftsmen's Bidwell in the Technology & Operations sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Craftsmen's Bidwell can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh, Craftsmen's Bidwell 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Craftsmen's Bidwell 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Craftsmen's Bidwell can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Craftsmen's Bidwell needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Technology & Operations industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Craftsmen's Bidwell 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 Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh 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 Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh 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 Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh 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 Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh 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 Bidwell Training Center, Inc. and Manchester Craftsmen's Guild: Preparation in Pittsburgh 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 Craftsmen's Bidwell needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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