CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Finance & Accounting
Strategy / MBA Resources
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.
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 - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is backlash against globalization, etc
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 -
Digital Transformation in Finance & Accounting segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Citycenter Grand digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Citycenter Grand 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.
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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Citycenter Grand in the sector have low bargaining power. CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Citycenter Grand to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
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.
Ability to lead change in Finance & Accounting field
– Citycenter Grand 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 Citycenter Grand in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Citycenter Grand 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 Citycenter Grand is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
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.
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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Citycenter Grand has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Citycenter Grand is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm 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.
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 -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Citycenter Grand 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm 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 CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Citycenter Grand is planning to shift buying processes online.
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.
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.
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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, John D. Macomber, Griffin H. James suggests that, Citycenter Grand 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 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.
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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm, it seems that the employees of Citycenter Grand 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.
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.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
Loyalty marketing
– Citycenter Grand 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.
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.
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.
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. Citycenter Grand can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Citycenter Grand 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Citycenter Grand 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, CityCenter (D): Financial Crisis, Grand Opening, and a New Paradigm, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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.
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.
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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Citycenter Grand can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Citycenter Grand operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Finance & Accounting sector.
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.
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 -
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Citycenter Grand 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.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Citycenter Grand demand
– There is a high probability of declining consumer confidence, given – high inflammation rate, rise of gig economy, lower job stability, increasing cost of living, higher interest rates, and aging demography. All the factors contribute to people saving higher rate of their income, resulting in lower consumer demand in the industry and other sectors.
Increasing 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 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Citycenter Grand has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Finance & Accounting industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Citycenter Grand 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.
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.
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.
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 .
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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Citycenter Grand can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Citycenter Grand.
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.