Case Study Description of Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders
In early summer 2012, Brookfield Residential Properties Inc. (Brookfield), a Calgary-based residential property developer with holdings throughout North America, had an opportunity to develop a vacant site in the inner-city community of Scarboro, in the southwest quadrant of Calgary. Brookfield did not own the site but was working with the landowner to request that the city of Calgary rezone the site from single family to Direct Control to allow a proposed 52-unit project. Brookfield's proposed housing development project was planned by following the policies set out in Calgary's Municipal Development Plan. The plan was focused on the densification of Calgary's population, particularly in the inner city and along established public transportation routes. The question was, how could Brookfield proceed to get buy-in for its project from Scarboro and the surrounding communities? The authors Norm Althouse and Peggy Hedges are affiliated with University of Calgary.
Swot Analysis of "Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders" written by Norm Althouse, Peggy Hedges, Cheryl Brazell includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Brookfield Calgary facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Policy, Public relations, Strategic planning and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Brookfield Calgary, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Brookfield Calgary 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 Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Brookfield Calgary
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Brookfield Calgary
Strengths Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Brookfield Calgary in Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Brookfield Calgary 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Brookfield Calgary is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Brookfield Calgary 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 Brookfield Calgary in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Brookfield Calgary to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Brookfield Calgary to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Brookfield Calgary is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Brookfield Calgary in the sector have low bargaining power. Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Brookfield Calgary to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Brookfield Calgary is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders 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.
Learning organization
- Brookfield Calgary 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 Brookfield Calgary is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Brookfield Calgary 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 Norm Althouse, Peggy Hedges, Cheryl Brazell 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.
High brand equity
– Brookfield Calgary has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Brookfield Calgary to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Brookfield Calgary has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders 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.
Weaknesses Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders 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 Brookfield Calgary has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Brookfield Calgary, firm in the HBR case study Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders, in the dynamic environment Brookfield Calgary has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Brookfield Calgary has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Brookfield Calgary 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. Brookfield Calgary 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders 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 Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Brookfield Calgary is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Brookfield Calgary supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Brookfield Calgary vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Brookfield Calgary 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Norm Althouse, Peggy Hedges, Cheryl Brazell suggests that, Brookfield Calgary is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Brookfield Calgary 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 Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders HBR case study mentions - Brookfield Calgary 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders 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 Brookfield Calgary 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders | 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 Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Brookfield Calgary can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Brookfield Calgary 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Brookfield Calgary 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, Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Brookfield Calgary 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 Brookfield Calgary to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Brookfield Calgary 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.
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 Brookfield Calgary in the consumer business. Now Brookfield Calgary can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Brookfield Calgary in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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. Brookfield Calgary can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Brookfield Calgary has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Brookfield Calgary to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders case study. Brookfield Calgary can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Brookfield Calgary 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Brookfield Calgary can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Brookfield Calgary can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Brookfield Calgary 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. Brookfield Calgary 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.
Threats Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Brookfield Calgary in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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.
Environmental challenges
– Brookfield Calgary 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. Brookfield Calgary can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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.
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. Brookfield Calgary needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Brookfield Calgary 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Brookfield Calgary 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Brookfield Calgary is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders, Brookfield Calgary may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Brookfield Calgary 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 Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders .
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. Brookfield Calgary 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Brookfield Calgary has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Brookfield Calgary needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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.
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 Brookfield Calgary.
Regulatory challenges
– Brookfield Calgary 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 Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders 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 Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders 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 Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders 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 Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders 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 Brookfield Residential Properties: Identifying and Engaging Stakeholders 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 Brookfield Calgary needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.