Swot Analysis of "Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds" written by Carliss Y. Baldwin includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Walt Disney facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial analysis, Financial management, Financial markets, Organizational culture, Risk management and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
wage bills are increasing, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Walt Disney, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Walt Disney 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 Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Walt Disney
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 Walt Disney
Strengths Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Walt Disney in Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Walt Disney 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Walt Disney 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 Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Walt Disney has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Walt Disney 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.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Walt Disney 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 Walt Disney in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Walt Disney
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Walt Disney does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Walt Disney in the sector have low bargaining power. Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Walt Disney to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Walt Disney has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Walt Disney to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Walt Disney to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Walt Disney to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Walt Disney 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
– Walt Disney 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 Carliss Y. Baldwin 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.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Walt Disney digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Walt Disney has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Weaknesses Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds, 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds, in the dynamic environment Walt Disney has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Walt Disney has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Walt Disney supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Walt Disney vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Walt Disney is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Walt Disney needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Walt Disney to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds 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 Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Walt Disney is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Walt Disney products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Walt Disney needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds 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 Walt Disney 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds 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 Walt Disney has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Walt Disney, firm in the HBR case study Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Walt Disney 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Walt Disney 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.
Opportunities Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds | 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 Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds 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. Walt Disney can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Walt Disney 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 Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Walt Disney 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, Walt Disney is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds 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.
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 Walt Disney 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Walt Disney can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Walt Disney has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Walt Disney to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds case study. Walt Disney can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Walt Disney 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.
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. Walt Disney 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. Walt Disney 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Walt Disney 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.
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 Walt Disney in the consumer business. Now Walt Disney can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Walt Disney 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 Walt Disney to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Walt Disney to increase its market reach. Walt Disney will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Walt Disney 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, Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds are -
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 Walt Disney.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Walt Disney 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 Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Walt Disney 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.
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. Walt Disney can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Walt Disney in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Walt Disney
– 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 Walt Disney.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Walt Disney is facing in Finance & Accounting sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Walt Disney 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.
Environmental challenges
– Walt Disney 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. Walt Disney 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 Walt Disney with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Walt Disney will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds, Walt Disney 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 Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds 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 Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds 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 Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds 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 Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds 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 Walt Disney Co.'s Sleeping Beauty Bonds 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 Walt Disney needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
