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CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm


"CityCenter (D)" follows the (A), (B), and (C) cases with subsequent chronological events through CityCenter's grand opening in December 2009 and financial results through March 2010. The case includes a simple valuation exercise intended to explore CEO Jim Murren's options as he seeks to avoid an MGM MIRAGE bankruptcy. The (D) case presents Murren with the choice of selling the Borgata casino in New Jersey or receiving an ownership stake in CityCenter itself. Students will draw on EBITDA comparables and projections to complete a simple valuation analysis to take a position on which asset to sell. "CityCenter (D)" can serve as an in-class exercise or homework assignment to follow discussion of the (C) case.

Authors :: John D. Macomber, Griffin H. James

Topics :: Finance & Accounting

Tags :: Financial management, Negotiations, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm" written by John D. Macomber, Griffin H. James includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Citycenter Grand facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Negotiations and Finance & Accounting.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Citycenter Grand, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Citycenter Grand 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 CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Citycenter Grand
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 Citycenter Grand




Strengths CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Citycenter Grand in CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm Harvard Business Review case study are -

Innovation driven organization

– Citycenter Grand is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Strong track record of project management

– Citycenter Grand is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Organizational Resilience of Citycenter Grand

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Citycenter Grand does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Citycenter Grand is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Citycenter Grand in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Citycenter Grand 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.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Citycenter Grand has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Citycenter Grand 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.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Citycenter Grand 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Finance & Accounting industry

– CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Citycenter Grand to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Citycenter Grand to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Analytics focus

– Citycenter Grand 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 John D. Macomber, Griffin H. James 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Citycenter Grand 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 CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Training and development

– Citycenter Grand has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.






Weaknesses CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm are -

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Citycenter Grand 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.

Need for greater diversity

– Citycenter Grand 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.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Citycenter Grand 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Citycenter Grand 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 - CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm 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 Citycenter Grand 's lucrative customers.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm HBR case study mentions - Citycenter Grand 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm, in the dynamic environment Citycenter Grand has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Citycenter Grand has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm, is just above the industry average. Citycenter Grand needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Citycenter Grand, firm in the HBR case study CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Citycenter Grand 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, Citycenter Grand is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm 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 CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm | 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 CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm are -

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Citycenter Grand in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Finance & Accounting segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

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 Citycenter Grand in the consumer business. Now Citycenter Grand 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 Citycenter Grand can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Citycenter Grand is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Citycenter Grand to increase its market reach. Citycenter Grand 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.

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. Citycenter Grand can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Developing new processes and practices

– Citycenter Grand 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.

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 Citycenter Grand 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Citycenter Grand 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 Citycenter Grand to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Citycenter Grand 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.

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. Citycenter Grand 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. Citycenter Grand 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Citycenter Grand 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

– Citycenter Grand 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 CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Citycenter Grand to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.




Threats CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm 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 CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm, Citycenter Grand 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 .

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 Citycenter Grand.

Aging population

– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Citycenter Grand with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

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. Citycenter Grand needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Finance & Accounting industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Increasing wage structure of Citycenter Grand

– 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 Citycenter Grand.

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 Citycenter Grand 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. Citycenter Grand can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Citycenter Grand 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 CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm .

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Citycenter Grand high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.

Environmental challenges

– Citycenter Grand 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. Citycenter Grand can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Finance & Accounting industry.

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. Citycenter Grand 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.

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 Citycenter Grand in the Finance & Accounting sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm 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 CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm 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 CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm 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 CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm 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 CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm 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 Citycenter Grand needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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