MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business
Given the importance of global education, colleges and universities are faced with increasing pressure from various stakeholders to internationalize their campus. The dean of the Grant MacEwan School of Business is faced with the task of internationalizing the school. Her job is doubly difficult as the school is implementing a strategic move towards becoming a baccalaureate-granting institution, and upgrading its available international programs. The application of standard business models of SWOT and PEST analysis, examining the multi-dimensionality of "internationalization" and its application in the non-profit sector, and development of defined benchmarks to evaluate the success of any expansion efforts are all areas that the dean should consider in making her recommendations.
Authors :: Ilan Alon, Mike Henry, Kimberley Howard
Swot Analysis of "MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business" written by Ilan Alon, Mike Henry, Kimberley Howard includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Macewan School facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business, Marketing and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Macewan School, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Macewan School 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 MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Macewan School
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Global Business field.
4. Making a Global Business topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Macewan School
Strengths MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Macewan School in MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Macewan School has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Macewan School 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.
Learning organization
- Macewan School 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 Macewan School is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Macewan School in the sector have low bargaining power. MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Macewan School to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Macewan School has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Macewan School is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Diverse revenue streams
– Macewan School is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business 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.
Analytics focus
– Macewan School 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 Ilan Alon, Mike Henry, Kimberley Howard 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.
Organizational Resilience of Macewan School
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Macewan School does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Macewan School 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.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Macewan School digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Macewan School 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.
High brand equity
– Macewan School has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Macewan School to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Macewan School 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 MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business, it seems that the employees of Macewan School 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Macewan School 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Macewan School products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Macewan School needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Ilan Alon, Mike Henry, Kimberley Howard suggests that, Macewan School 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business, is just above the industry average. Macewan School 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Macewan School 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Macewan School 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. Macewan School 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business, in the dynamic environment Macewan School has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Macewan School 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 Macewan School is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Macewan School needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Macewan School to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business 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 Macewan School 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business 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 MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Macewan School is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business | 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 MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Macewan School 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 MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Macewan School to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Macewan School 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, MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Macewan School can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Macewan School operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
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. Macewan School can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Global Business industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Macewan School can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Macewan School 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Macewan School 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Global Business industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Macewan School 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. Macewan School 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Macewan School has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Macewan School to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business case study. Macewan School can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Macewan School 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Macewan School 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 Global Business segment.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Macewan School 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 Macewan School to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Macewan School can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business 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.
Threats MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business are -
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Global Business field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Macewan School 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
– Macewan School 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 Global Business industry regulations.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Macewan School 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 Macewan School.
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 Macewan School in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Macewan School 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, Macewan School 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 MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business .
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.
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. Macewan School needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Macewan School 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. Macewan School can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Increasing wage structure of Macewan School
– 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 Macewan School.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Macewan School 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 Macewan School business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business 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 MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business 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 MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business 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 MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business 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 MacEwan Goes Global: Internationalization at a Canadian School of Business 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 Macewan School needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.