The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel
This case recounts the work of a special Argentina-Uruguay bi-national commission convened to examine the economics of a proposed bridge that would link the two countries. The bridge being considered by commission officials in the spring of 1996 was to extend 41 kilometers across the River Plata estuary, from Buenos Aires to the Uruguay city of Colonias. It would be by far the longest in the world. The case recreates the problem as faced by the commission, which had to consider whether it would make financial sense for a private concessionaire to build and operate the bridge. Specifically, bridge commission staff had to critique the work and recommendations of a private consulting firm whose market projects led it to conclude that tha US$1 billion bridge could successfully be financed by tolls of US$60 per car. HKS Case Number 1400.1
Swot Analysis of "The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel" written by Jose Gomez-Ibanez includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bridge Commission facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial analysis, Globalization, Joint ventures, Social responsibility, Sustainability and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bridge Commission, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bridge Commission 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 The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bridge Commission
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 Bridge Commission
Strengths The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bridge Commission in The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bridge Commission digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bridge Commission 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.
Analytics focus
– Bridge Commission 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 Jose Gomez-Ibanez 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Bridge Commission is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel 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.
Learning organization
- Bridge Commission 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 Bridge Commission is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bridge Commission to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bridge Commission to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bridge Commission is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bridge Commission has highly efficient outsourcing and offshoring strategy. It has resulted in greater operational flexibility and bringing down the costs in highly price sensitive segment. Secondly the value chain collaborators of the firm in The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bridge Commission in the sector have low bargaining power. The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bridge Commission to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Bridge Commission 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 The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Bridge Commission has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bridge Commission to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Bridge Commission has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bridge Commission 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.
Weaknesses The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Bridge Commission 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel HBR case study mentions - Bridge Commission 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
Bridge Commission 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Bridge Commission is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Bridge Commission needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bridge Commission to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel 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 The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bridge Commission is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Bridge Commission 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Bridge Commission 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 - The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel, it seems that the employees of Bridge Commission 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel, is just above the industry average. Bridge Commission needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Bridge Commission, firm in the HBR case study The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel 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 Bridge Commission 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel | 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 The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel are -
Buying journey improvements
– Bridge Commission can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel 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.
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. Bridge Commission 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. Bridge Commission 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bridge Commission 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, The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Bridge Commission 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 The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bridge Commission to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Bridge Commission 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Bridge Commission 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Bridge Commission can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Bridge Commission operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Global Business 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 Bridge Commission 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.
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 Bridge Commission in the consumer business. Now Bridge Commission can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Bridge Commission 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
– Bridge Commission 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, Bridge Commission is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bridge Commission has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bridge Commission to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel case study. Bridge Commission can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel 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. Bridge Commission can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Bridge Commission in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bridge Commission with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Bridge Commission 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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bridge Commission 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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Bridge Commission
– 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 Bridge Commission.
Environmental challenges
– Bridge Commission 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. Bridge Commission can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bridge Commission 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bridge Commission 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.
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 Bridge Commission business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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. Bridge Commission needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel 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 The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel 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 The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel 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 The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel 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 The Buenos Aires-Colonia Bridge (B): Sequel 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 Bridge Commission needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.