Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B)
By 2006, the Point Lisas Industrial Estate (PLIPDECO) consisted of approximately 44 industrial sites on 1,000 hectares of land. Some in Trinidad advocated the creation of additional estates as well as expansion into business like aluminum, which required a great deal of energy. The government of Trinidad had continued a menu of tax exemptions and incentives, and substantial additional foreign investments were expected. Meanwhile, Hugo Chavez had become President of Venezuela and had instituted a socialist, anti-American regime that was seizing assets and rewriting contracts with foreign investors. Trinidad looked like a favourable investment site compared with Venezuela. However, not all was happiness. The businesses involved with PLIPDECO needed relatively few employees. Some in Trinidad referred to this reality as the "curse of oil."
Swot Analysis of "Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B)" written by David W. Conklin, Danielle Cadieux includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Trinidad Lisas facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Regulation, Social responsibility, Sustainability and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Trinidad Lisas, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Trinidad Lisas 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 Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Trinidad Lisas
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 Trinidad Lisas
Strengths Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Trinidad Lisas in Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Trinidad Lisas in the sector have low bargaining power. Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Trinidad Lisas to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Trinidad Lisas 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 Trinidad Lisas
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Trinidad Lisas does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Trinidad Lisas 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 Trinidad Lisas is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Trinidad Lisas 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 Trinidad Lisas in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– Trinidad Lisas has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) 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.
High brand equity
– Trinidad Lisas has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Trinidad Lisas to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Trinidad Lisas to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Trinidad Lisas to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Trinidad Lisas is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) 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 Trinidad Lisas in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Trinidad Lisas is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Trinidad Lisas 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.
Weaknesses Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, David W. Conklin, Danielle Cadieux suggests that, Trinidad Lisas 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Trinidad Lisas has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Trinidad Lisas 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Trinidad Lisas 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Trinidad Lisas products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Trinidad Lisas needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) 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 Trinidad Lisas has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Trinidad Lisas 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. Trinidad Lisas 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) 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 Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Trinidad Lisas is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) HBR case study mentions - Trinidad Lisas 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Trinidad Lisas, firm in the HBR case study Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Opportunities Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) | 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 Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Trinidad Lisas can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Trinidad Lisas operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Trinidad Lisas 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 Trinidad Lisas to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Trinidad Lisas 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 Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Trinidad Lisas to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Trinidad Lisas in the consumer business. Now Trinidad Lisas can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Trinidad Lisas can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) 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.
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. Trinidad Lisas can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Trinidad Lisas 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. Trinidad Lisas 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 Trinidad Lisas has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Trinidad Lisas to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) case study. Trinidad Lisas can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Trinidad Lisas can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Trinidad Lisas 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Trinidad Lisas can develop new processes and procedures in Global Business 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Trinidad Lisas 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Trinidad Lisas is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) 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.
Threats Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) are -
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. Trinidad Lisas 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.
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. Trinidad Lisas can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Trinidad Lisas 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 Trinidad Lisas in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Trinidad Lisas has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Trinidad Lisas needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Global Business 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Trinidad Lisas is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Trinidad Lisas needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Trinidad Lisas.
Regulatory challenges
– Trinidad Lisas 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
– Trinidad Lisas 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.
Environmental challenges
– Trinidad Lisas 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. Trinidad Lisas can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Increasing wage structure of Trinidad Lisas
– 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 Trinidad Lisas.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) 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 Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) 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 Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) 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 Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) 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 Point Lisas Industrial Estate: Trinidad (B) 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 Trinidad Lisas needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.