Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version
Describes a dispute between the owners of the major league baseball teams and the players' union about the profitability of the baseball teams. The issue is important because of the ongoing collective bargaining negotiations. A consultant is brought in to decide whether a representative team, the Kansas City Zephyrs, is making or losing money. He has to settle a number of accounting disputes about roster depreciation, signing bonuses, deferred compensation, and stadium costs.
Authors :: Kenneth A. Merchant, Krishna G. Palepu, Joseph P. Mulloy
Swot Analysis of "Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version" written by Kenneth A. Merchant, Krishna G. Palepu, Joseph P. Mulloy includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Baseball Zephyrs facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Compensation, Costs, Entrepreneurship, Labor, Managing people and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Baseball Zephyrs, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Baseball Zephyrs 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 Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Baseball Zephyrs
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 Baseball Zephyrs
Strengths Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Baseball Zephyrs in Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Baseball Zephyrs 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 Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Baseball Zephyrs is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Baseball Zephyrs is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Baseball Zephyrs has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Baseball Zephyrs digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Baseball Zephyrs to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Baseball Zephyrs to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Baseball Zephyrs is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Baseball Zephyrs 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 Baseball Zephyrs in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Baseball Zephyrs 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 Baseball Zephyrs is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Baseball Zephyrs
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Baseball Zephyrs does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Baseball Zephyrs has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Baseball Zephyrs to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version, 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version, is just above the industry average. Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version, in the dynamic environment Baseball Zephyrs has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Baseball Zephyrs has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Baseball Zephyrs is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Finance & Accounting segment. Baseball Zephyrs needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Baseball Zephyrs to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Kenneth A. Merchant, Krishna G. Palepu, Joseph P. Mulloy suggests that, Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Baseball Zephyrs 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. Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Baseball Zephyrs, firm in the HBR case study Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Lack of clear differentiation of Baseball Zephyrs products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Baseball Zephyrs needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Baseball Zephyrs 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 - Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Baseball Zephyrs has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Opportunities Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version | 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 Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version 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. Baseball Zephyrs can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Baseball Zephyrs in the consumer business. Now Baseball Zephyrs can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Baseball Zephyrs is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Baseball Zephyrs 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 Baseball Zephyrs to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Baseball Zephyrs 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.
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. Baseball Zephyrs can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Baseball Zephyrs 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
– Baseball Zephyrs 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 Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Baseball Zephyrs to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Threats Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version, Baseball Zephyrs 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 .
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. Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Baseball Zephyrs has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Baseball Zephyrs 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.
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 Baseball Zephyrs.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Baseball Zephyrs 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Baseball Zephyrs 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.
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. Baseball Zephyrs needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Baseball Zephyrs with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Baseball Zephyrs business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Baseball Zephyrs 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 Baseball Zephyrs in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Baseball Zephyrs
– 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 Baseball Zephyrs.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version 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 Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version 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 Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version 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 Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version 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 Kansas City Zephyrs Baseball Club, Inc., Chinese Version 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 Baseball Zephyrs needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.