Swot Analysis of "Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)?" written by Aldo Musacchio, Tarun Khanna, Rachna Tahilyani includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that 710008 Railways facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Government, Strategy and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the 710008 Railways, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which 710008 Railways 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 Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of 710008 Railways
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 710008 Railways
Strengths Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of 710008 Railways in Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of 710008 Railways in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– 710008 Railways has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. 710008 Railways 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.
Training and development
– 710008 Railways has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Learning organization
- 710008 Railways 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 710008 Railways is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the 710008 Railways 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.
Analytics focus
– 710008 Railways 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 Aldo Musacchio, Tarun Khanna, Rachna Tahilyani 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– 710008 Railways is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (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.
Strong track record of project management
– 710008 Railways 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
– 710008 Railways is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of 710008 Railways in the sector have low bargaining power. Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps 710008 Railways to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– 710008 Railways has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled 710008 Railways to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? 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 710008 Railways 's lucrative customers.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of 710008 Railways supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left 710008 Railways vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, 710008 Railways 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. 710008 Railways 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of 710008 Railways, firm in the HBR case study Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
710008 Railways 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? HBR case study mentions - 710008 Railways 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Aldo Musacchio, Tarun Khanna, Rachna Tahilyani suggests that, 710008 Railways 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of 710008 Railways is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. 710008 Railways needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help 710008 Railways to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, 710008 Railways 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 710008 Railways 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.
Opportunities Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (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 Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? are -
Buying journey improvements
– 710008 Railways can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– 710008 Railways 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 Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help 710008 Railways to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. 710008 Railways can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 710008 Railways in the consumer business. Now 710008 Railways can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. 710008 Railways 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. 710008 Railways 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.
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. 710008 Railways can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, 710008 Railways is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, 710008 Railways can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that 710008 Railways operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, 710008 Railways 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.
Loyalty marketing
– 710008 Railways 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, 710008 Railways 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, Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects 710008 Railways can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help 710008 Railways to increase its market reach. 710008 Railways 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.
Threats Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for 710008 Railways in the Global Business industry. The Global Business industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
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. 710008 Railways needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of 710008 Railways
– 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 710008 Railways.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– 710008 Railways 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that 710008 Railways is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, 710008 Railways 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 Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (B)? .
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 710008 Railways business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. 710008 Railways can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. 710008 Railways 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.
Environmental challenges
– 710008 Railways 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. 710008 Railways can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
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 710008 Railways.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (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 Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (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 Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (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 Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (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 Indian Railways: Building a Permanent Legacy (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 710008 Railways needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.