BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road
BrisConnections won the bid to construct the Airport Link toll road under a BOOT (Build, Own, Operate and Transfer) PPP model just as the global financial crisis took hold in 2008. Soon the project would take its place among a string of Australian toll road project failures.
Swot Analysis of "BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road" written by Pierre Hillion, Bowen White includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Brisconnections Toll facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Joint ventures, Project management, Recession and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, wage bills are increasing,
there is backlash against globalization, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Brisconnections Toll, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Brisconnections Toll 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 BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Brisconnections Toll
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 Brisconnections Toll
Strengths BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Brisconnections Toll in BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Brisconnections Toll 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Brisconnections Toll in the sector have low bargaining power. BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Brisconnections Toll to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Brisconnections Toll in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Brisconnections Toll 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.
Analytics focus
– Brisconnections Toll 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 Pierre Hillion, Bowen White 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
– Brisconnections Toll has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Brisconnections Toll to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Brisconnections Toll is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Brisconnections Toll 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 BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road 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.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Brisconnections Toll 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 Brisconnections Toll 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 Finance & Accounting industry
– BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Brisconnections Toll to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Brisconnections Toll to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Brisconnections Toll has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road 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 BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Brisconnections Toll 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Brisconnections Toll 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 - BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road, it seems that the employees of Brisconnections Toll don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road, 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Brisconnections Toll 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road, in the dynamic environment Brisconnections Toll has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Brisconnections Toll has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road 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 Brisconnections Toll 's lucrative customers.
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 Brisconnections Toll supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Brisconnections Toll vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road, is just above the industry average. Brisconnections Toll needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Brisconnections Toll, firm in the HBR case study BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Brisconnections Toll is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Brisconnections Toll needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Brisconnections Toll to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road | 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 BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Brisconnections Toll 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Brisconnections Toll 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Brisconnections Toll 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 Brisconnections Toll to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Brisconnections Toll has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Brisconnections Toll to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road case study. Brisconnections Toll 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, Brisconnections Toll 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Brisconnections Toll can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Brisconnections Toll 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.
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. Brisconnections Toll can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Brisconnections Toll 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Brisconnections Toll 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 BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Brisconnections Toll to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Brisconnections Toll is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Brisconnections Toll 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, BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Brisconnections Toll 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 BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road are -
Regulatory challenges
– Brisconnections Toll 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Brisconnections Toll with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Environmental challenges
– Brisconnections Toll 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. Brisconnections Toll can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Brisconnections Toll 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.
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 Brisconnections Toll 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 Brisconnections Toll in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Brisconnections Toll can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Brisconnections Toll has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Brisconnections Toll 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road, Brisconnections Toll 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 .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Brisconnections Toll 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.
Increasing wage structure of Brisconnections Toll
– 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 Brisconnections Toll.
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 Brisconnections Toll.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road 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 BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road 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 BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road 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 BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road 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 BrisConnections (A): The Vested Interests of an Australian Toll Road 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 Brisconnections Toll needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
