Case Study Description of Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values
It was 2014, and the chief executive officer (CEO) of Knightsbridge Custom Homes Limited (Knightsbridge) had just purchased a site for his next project in the rapidly gentrifying East Village neighbourhood of Calgary, Alberta. He had built Knightsbridge on a commitment to three core values: finding great locations, catering to underserved markets, and providing niche products. Since it's founding in 1990, these values had remained the same, but the type of projects undertaken by Knightsbridge had changed dramatically. The company started by building infill homes in inner-city Calgary and estate homes on the city's outskirts. Then it built multi-family homes in the suburbs and tackled a transit-oriented development in an established area. Now, the CEO was considering developing a no parking, high-rise condominium tower close to the downtown core. High-rise living without parking would be an entirely new concept in car-centric Calgary. Was developing a residential site without parking a viable plan in this growing city? Knightsbridge's CEO needed to find an effective way to answer this question. Pernille Goodbrand is affiliated with University of Calgary. Jyoti Gondek is affiliated with Haskayne School of Business.
Swot Analysis of "Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values" written by Pernille Goodbrand, Jyoti Gondek, Cheryl Brazell includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Knightsbridge Calgary facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Knightsbridge Calgary, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Knightsbridge 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 Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Knightsbridge Calgary
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Knightsbridge Calgary
Strengths Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Knightsbridge Calgary in Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Knightsbridge Calgary to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Knightsbridge Calgary to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Knightsbridge Calgary has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Knightsbridge Calgary 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Knightsbridge Calgary in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Knightsbridge Calgary 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.
Training and development
– Knightsbridge Calgary has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values 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)
– Knightsbridge Calgary 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 Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Knightsbridge Calgary digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Knightsbridge Calgary 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Knightsbridge Calgary is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Knightsbridge 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Knightsbridge Calgary is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values 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 Leadership & Managing People field
– Knightsbridge 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 Knightsbridge Calgary in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Knightsbridge Calgary 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Knightsbridge 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. Knightsbridge 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values 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 Knightsbridge Calgary 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Knightsbridge Calgary 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 - Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Knightsbridge Calgary products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Knightsbridge Calgary needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values HBR case study mentions - Knightsbridge 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Knightsbridge Calgary is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Knightsbridge Calgary is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Knightsbridge Calgary needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Knightsbridge Calgary to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Knightsbridge Calgary 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values 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 Knightsbridge Calgary has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Knightsbridge 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.
Opportunities Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values | 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 Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Knightsbridge Calgary 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 Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Knightsbridge Calgary can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Knightsbridge 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Knightsbridge 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. Knightsbridge 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Knightsbridge Calgary 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Knightsbridge Calgary can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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.
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. Knightsbridge Calgary can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Knightsbridge Calgary can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Knightsbridge 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 Knightsbridge Calgary to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Knightsbridge Calgary in the consumer business. Now Knightsbridge 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 Knightsbridge 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 Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Buying journey improvements
– Knightsbridge Calgary can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Knightsbridge Calgary 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 Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Knightsbridge Calgary to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Knightsbridge Calgary can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values, Knightsbridge 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 Leadership & Managing People .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Knightsbridge Calgary with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Knightsbridge 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Increasing wage structure of Knightsbridge Calgary
– 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 Knightsbridge Calgary.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Knightsbridge Calgary is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Knightsbridge 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.
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. Knightsbridge 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 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
– Knightsbridge Calgary has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Knightsbridge Calgary needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Knightsbridge 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.
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 Knightsbridge Calgary.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values 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 Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values 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 Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values 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 Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values 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 Knightsbridge Custom Homebuilders Ltd.: Commitment to Core Values 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 Knightsbridge Calgary needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
