Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School
Introduces students to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) course taught at Harvard Business School. LSI is a case-based course about project finance that is designed for second-year MBA students. The course is about project finance, which involves creation of a legally independent project company financed with equity from one or more sponsoring firms and nonrecourse debt for the purpose of investing in a capital asset. In 2001, project-financed investment reached $217 billion worldwide. The LSI course describes what project finance is, why it creates value, and how to structure deals. In doing so, the course helps to sharpen and deepen students' understanding of corporate finance. This note describes the course's key themes, structure, and content. Additionally, there is a brief synopsis of each case study. The cases are available individually from Harvard Business School Publishing.
Swot Analysis of "Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School" written by Benjamin C. Esty includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Lsi Project facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Government, International business, Project management and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Lsi Project, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Lsi Project 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 Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Lsi Project
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 Lsi Project
Strengths Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Lsi Project in Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Lsi Project 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 Benjamin C. Esty 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
– Lsi Project has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Lsi Project to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Lsi Project 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 Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Lsi Project is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Lsi Project in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Lsi Project to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Lsi Project to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Lsi Project is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Lsi Project 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 Lsi Project in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Lsi Project 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 Lsi Project is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Lsi Project 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 Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Lsi Project has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Lsi Project 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.
Weaknesses Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Lsi Project 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Lsi Project products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Lsi Project needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School HBR case study mentions - Lsi Project 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Lsi Project 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 - Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Lsi Project, firm in the HBR case study Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Lsi Project has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Benjamin C. Esty suggests that, Lsi Project 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School 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 Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Lsi Project is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School 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 Lsi Project has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Lsi Project is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Lsi Project needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Lsi Project to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Lsi Project 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. Lsi Project 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.
Opportunities Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School | 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 Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School are -
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. Lsi Project can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Lsi Project 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Lsi Project 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, Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Lsi Project can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Lsi Project 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 Lsi Project to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Lsi Project has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Lsi Project to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School case study. Lsi Project can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Lsi Project 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Lsi Project can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Lsi Project 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Lsi Project 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Lsi Project can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Lsi Project operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
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. Lsi Project 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. Lsi Project 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Lsi Project 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.
Threats Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School are -
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. Lsi Project can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Lsi Project with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Lsi Project 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.
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. Lsi Project needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Lsi Project in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Lsi Project 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.
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 Lsi Project.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Lsi Project 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Lsi Project is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Lsi Project high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
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.
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. Lsi Project 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School, Lsi Project 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School 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 Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School 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 Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School 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 Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School 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 Introduction to the Large-Scale Investment (LSI) Course at Harvard Business School 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 Lsi Project needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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