The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A)
On December 5, 1791, Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton presented to Congress his "Report on the Subject of Manufactures," which proposed significant government support for nascent American industry through tariffs, subsidies, and other incentives. It seemed that Hamilton's politico-economic vision for America had substantial political momentum, yet James Madison and his circle viewed Hamilton's proposals with alarm, and a financial panic in August-September, 1791, raised new anxieties about the rapid political and economic changes occurring in the United States. In the face of these concerns, would Congress sustain its support for Hamilton's vision?
Swot Analysis of "The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A)" written by Robert F. Bruner, Scott Miller includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hamilton's 1791 facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Policy, Recession and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hamilton's 1791, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hamilton's 1791 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 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hamilton's 1791
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 Hamilton's 1791
Strengths The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hamilton's 1791 in The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Hamilton's 1791 to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Hamilton's 1791 to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Hamilton's 1791 in the sector have low bargaining power. The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Hamilton's 1791 to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Hamilton's 1791 has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Hamilton's 1791 to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Hamilton's 1791 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.
Analytics focus
– Hamilton's 1791 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, Scott Miller 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Hamilton's 1791 is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Hamilton's 1791 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 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Hamilton's 1791 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 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Hamilton's 1791 is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Hamilton's 1791 is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Hamilton's 1791 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 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Hamilton's 1791 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Hamilton's 1791 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Hamilton's 1791 products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Hamilton's 1791 needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) 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 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Hamilton's 1791 is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) 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 Hamilton's 1791 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Finance & Accounting strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Hamilton's 1791 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 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) HBR case study mentions - Hamilton's 1791 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Robert F. Bruner, Scott Miller suggests that, Hamilton's 1791 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.
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 Hamilton's 1791 supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Hamilton's 1791 vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Hamilton's 1791 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 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) | 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 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Hamilton's 1791 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 The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Hamilton's 1791 to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Hamilton's 1791 can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Hamilton's 1791 can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Finance & Accounting 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Hamilton's 1791 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Hamilton's 1791 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.
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 Hamilton's 1791 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.
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. Hamilton's 1791 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. Hamilton's 1791 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.
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 Hamilton's 1791 in the consumer business. Now Hamilton's 1791 can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Hamilton's 1791 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, The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A), 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, Hamilton's 1791 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.
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. Hamilton's 1791 can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Hamilton's 1791 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Hamilton's 1791 is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) 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.
Threats The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) 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 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) 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. Hamilton's 1791 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Hamilton's 1791 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.
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
– Hamilton's 1791 has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Hamilton's 1791 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.
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 Hamilton's 1791 business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Hamilton's 1791 in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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
– Hamilton's 1791 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. Hamilton's 1791 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 Hamilton's 1791 with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Hamilton's 1791 needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Hamilton's 1791
– 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 Hamilton's 1791.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Hamilton's 1791 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.
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. Hamilton's 1791 can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Panic of 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) 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 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) 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 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) 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 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) 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 1791: Hamilton's Reports and the Rise of Faction (A) 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 Hamilton's 1791 needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
