Swot Analysis of "Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B)" written by Benjamin C. Esty, Michael Kane includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that A3xx Airbus facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competitive strategy, Costs, Financial analysis, Government, Marketing, Product development, Project management and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the A3xx Airbus, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which A3xx Airbus 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 Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of A3xx Airbus
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 A3xx Airbus
Strengths Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of A3xx Airbus in Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of A3xx Airbus
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that A3xx Airbus does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– A3xx Airbus is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to recruit top talent
– A3xx Airbus is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Successful track record of launching new products
– A3xx Airbus has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. A3xx Airbus 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the A3xx Airbus 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.
Innovation driven organization
– A3xx Airbus is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– A3xx Airbus is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– A3xx Airbus 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 Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– A3xx Airbus has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled A3xx Airbus to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– A3xx Airbus 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 Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of A3xx Airbus 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 Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) 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.
Weaknesses Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) are -
Products dominated business model
– Even though A3xx Airbus 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 - Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, A3xx Airbus is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) HBR case study mentions - A3xx Airbus 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 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 A3xx Airbus supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left A3xx Airbus vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, A3xx Airbus has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B), is just above the industry average. A3xx Airbus 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B), it seems that the employees of A3xx Airbus 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at A3xx Airbus 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B), in the dynamic environment A3xx Airbus has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. A3xx Airbus has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) 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 A3xx Airbus has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B), 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.
Opportunities Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) | 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 Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) are -
Buying journey improvements
– A3xx Airbus can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects A3xx Airbus can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– A3xx Airbus 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, A3xx Airbus 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, Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 A3xx Airbus in the consumer business. Now A3xx Airbus can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. A3xx Airbus 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. A3xx Airbus 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for A3xx Airbus 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.
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. A3xx Airbus can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 A3xx Airbus 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. A3xx Airbus can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, A3xx Airbus can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that A3xx Airbus operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at A3xx Airbus 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– A3xx Airbus 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 Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) are -
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 A3xx Airbus business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– A3xx Airbus has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, A3xx Airbus 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.
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 A3xx Airbus in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– A3xx Airbus 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.
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. A3xx Airbus 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 Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B), A3xx Airbus 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on A3xx Airbus 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.
Increasing wage structure of A3xx Airbus
– 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 A3xx Airbus.
Environmental challenges
– A3xx Airbus 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. A3xx Airbus can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, A3xx Airbus can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for A3xx Airbus 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– A3xx Airbus 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 A3xx Airbus.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) 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 Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) 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 Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) 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 Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) 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 Airbus A3XX: Developing the World's Largest Commercial Jet (B) 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 A3xx Airbus needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.