Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth
In May 2004, Las Vegas Sands Corp. became the first to open a Western-style casino in the Chinese enclave of Macau. Run and owned in majority by Sheldon Adelson, Nevada-based Las Vegas Sands Corp. had pioneered the convention-driven business model in the Las Vegas gaming industry. As one of three new gaming license holders in Macau, Adelson was set to replicate the model in Macau and break the monopoly held by Stanley Ho's Sociedade de Turismo e Diversoes de Macau (STDM) for more than 40 years. By May 2005, Macau was experiencing construction frenzy. Billions of dollars worth of casinos, convention venues, and hotels were under development. Las Vegas Sands Corp. was one of the main instigators, with a US$1.8 billion casino resort under construction, as well as an interest in six hotel casino complexes. The company was also expanding its Las Vegas business with a US$1.6 billion casino resort next to its existing Las Vegas Venetian development.
Authors :: Jeroen Van Den Berg, Frederik Pretorius
Swot Analysis of "Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth" written by Jeroen Van Den Berg, Frederik Pretorius includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Vegas Las facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Finance & Accounting.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Vegas Las, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Vegas Las 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 Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Vegas Las
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 Vegas Las
Strengths Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Vegas Las in Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Vegas Las is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth 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
– Vegas Las 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 Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Vegas Las is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Vegas Las has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Vegas Las 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry
– Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Vegas Las to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Vegas Las to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Vegas Las is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Vegas Las is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Vegas Las 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 Vegas Las in the sector have low bargaining power. Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Vegas Las to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth 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.
Training and development
– Vegas Las has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth 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.
Organizational Resilience of Vegas Las
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Vegas Las does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth are -
Need for greater diversity
– Vegas Las has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth, it seems that the employees of Vegas Las 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Vegas Las, firm in the HBR case study Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth, in the dynamic environment Vegas Las has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Vegas Las 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 Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth 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 Vegas Las 's lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Vegas Las 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth 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 Vegas Las has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Vegas Las products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Vegas Las needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth, is just above the industry average. Vegas Las 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Vegas Las needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Vegas Las is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth | 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 Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Vegas Las 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.
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 Vegas Las in the consumer business. Now Vegas Las can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Vegas Las 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 Vegas Las has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Vegas Las to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth case study. Vegas Las can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Vegas Las 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 Vegas Las 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 Vegas Las 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Vegas Las is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Vegas Las 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Vegas Las 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 Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Vegas Las to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Vegas Las 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Vegas Las can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Vegas Las operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Vegas Las can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth 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.
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. Vegas Las can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth 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 Vegas Las.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Vegas Las 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. Vegas Las 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
– Vegas Las has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Vegas Las 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 Vegas Las in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Vegas Las 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 Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth .
Regulatory challenges
– Vegas Las 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth, Vegas Las 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. Vegas Las 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.
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. Vegas Las 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 Vegas Las with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Vegas Las 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth 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 Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth 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 Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth 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 Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth 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 Las Vegas Sands Corp.: Betting on Growth 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 Vegas Las needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
