BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund
In 2013, the long-delayed IPO of the Bangkok Mass Transit System Public Co. Ltd. (BTSC) took place, but in an unusually complex form. Instead of selling the shares of the company that owned the elevated railway concession, what was offered were investment units in Thailand's first publicly listed infrastructure mutual fund: the BTS Rail Mass Transit Growth Infrastructure Fund (BTSGIF). Proceeds from the IPO were used to acquire from BTSC the rights to the net farebox revenue generated from the railway. The investment exposed investors not only to the operating risk of the railway but to other types such as political risk.
Swot Analysis of "BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund" written by Pierre Hillion, Bowen White, Jean Wee includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Btsc Railway facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, IPO, Risk management and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Btsc Railway, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Btsc Railway 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 BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Btsc Railway
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 Btsc Railway
Strengths BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Btsc Railway in BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Btsc Railway
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Btsc Railway does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Btsc Railway has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Btsc Railway has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Learning organization
- Btsc Railway 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 Btsc Railway is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Btsc Railway in the sector have low bargaining power. BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Btsc Railway to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Btsc Railway 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.
High brand equity
– Btsc Railway has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Btsc Railway 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
– BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Btsc Railway to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Btsc Railway to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Btsc Railway is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Btsc Railway 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 Pierre Hillion, Bowen White, Jean Wee 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Btsc Railway is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Btsc Railway 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 Btsc Railway in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Btsc Railway is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund 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.
Weaknesses BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund HBR case study mentions - Btsc Railway 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Btsc Railway 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Btsc Railway, firm in the HBR case study BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Btsc Railway 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund, in the dynamic environment Btsc Railway has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Btsc Railway has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund 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 BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Btsc Railway is planning to shift buying processes online.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Btsc Railway 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 BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund 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 Btsc Railway has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
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 Btsc Railway supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Btsc Railway vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Btsc Railway 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund 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 Btsc Railway 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund | 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 BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Btsc Railway has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Btsc Railway to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund case study. Btsc Railway can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Btsc Railway 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.
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 Btsc Railway in the consumer business. Now Btsc Railway can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Btsc Railway 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 BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Btsc Railway to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Btsc Railway is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Btsc Railway 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Btsc Railway 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 Btsc Railway to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Btsc Railway 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, BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Btsc Railway 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Btsc Railway 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.
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. Btsc Railway can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Btsc Railway 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. Btsc Railway 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Btsc Railway can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Btsc Railway operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Threats BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund are -
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. Btsc Railway needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Btsc Railway 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 BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund .
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.
Environmental challenges
– Btsc Railway 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. Btsc Railway can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Btsc Railway 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 Btsc Railway 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.
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 Btsc Railway.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Btsc Railway 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund, Btsc Railway 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Btsc Railway 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Btsc Railway has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Btsc Railway 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Btsc Railway 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund 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 BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund 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 BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund 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 BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund 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 BTS Skytrain Carve-Out: The Return of the Infrastructure Trust Fund 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 Btsc Railway needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
