The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B)
Supplement to case UV7348. This case considers the association between a financial crisis and regime change. The setting for this case is 1861, when Virginians debate the question of secession from the United States, and when northwestern Virginians contemplated secession from Virginia. The proximate financial crisis was the panic of 1857.
Swot Analysis of "The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B)" written by Robert F. Bruner includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Secession Virginians facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Currency, Recession and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices,
wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Secession Virginians, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Secession Virginians 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 The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Secession Virginians
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 Secession Virginians
Strengths The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Secession Virginians in The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Secession Virginians 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 The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Secession Virginians 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.
Training and development
– Secession Virginians has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) 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.
Learning organization
- Secession Virginians 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 Secession Virginians is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Secession Virginians has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Secession Virginians 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.
Analytics focus
– Secession Virginians 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 Robert F. Bruner 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Secession Virginians is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Secession Virginians is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Secession Virginians 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 The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Secession Virginians 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 brand equity
– Secession Virginians has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Secession Virginians to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Secession Virginians 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 Secession Virginians in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Secession Virginians 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. Secession Virginians even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Secession Virginians 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) 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 The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Secession Virginians is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Secession Virginians 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 - The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Secession Virginians is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Secession Virginians needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Secession Virginians to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) HBR case study mentions - Secession Virginians 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 The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B), in the dynamic environment Secession Virginians has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Secession Virginians has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) 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 Secession Virginians has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Secession Virginians 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Secession Virginians 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Secession Virginians 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.
Opportunities The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) | 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 The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Secession Virginians to increase its market reach. Secession Virginians 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.
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. Secession Virginians can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Secession Virginians is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Secession Virginians 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 Secession Virginians 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Secession Virginians can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Secession Virginians operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Secession Virginians can develop new processes and procedures in Finance & Accounting 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Secession Virginians 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 Finance & Accounting industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Secession Virginians 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. Secession Virginians 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Secession Virginians 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.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Finance & Accounting industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Secession Virginians can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Secession Virginians 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Secession Virginians 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.
Threats The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) are -
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. Secession Virginians 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Secession Virginians 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Finance & Accounting field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Secession Virginians can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Secession Virginians business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Secession Virginians has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Secession Virginians 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.
Increasing wage structure of Secession Virginians
– 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 Secession Virginians.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Secession Virginians 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 The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) .
Regulatory challenges
– Secession Virginians needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Finance & Accounting industry regulations.
Environmental challenges
– Secession Virginians 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. Secession Virginians can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B), Secession Virginians 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 .
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. Secession Virginians needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Secession Virginians is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) 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 The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) 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 The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) 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 The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) 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 The Panic of 1857, Nationalism, and Secession (B) 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 Secession Virginians needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
