Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership
Uses Bulgaria as an example of an Eastern European economy of transition. Presents the main facts about the country and the economic developments during the Communist years. Looks at the challenges of the early transition years and the 1997 financial crisis, focusing on issues common to Eastern European countries--the high social cost of reforms, dependent central bank, hyperinflation, and currency devaluation. Also looks at the currency board arrangement, its successes (macroeconomic stability and improved image of the country with international investors) and challenges (high social cost due to severe reduction of budget deficit and high current account deficits due to real appreciation of the Bulgarian lev). Discusses the trade and competitiveness of the Bulgarian economy, as well as the economy in 2004. Finally, offers an overview of the EU accession process: Can 2007 be considered a sure entry date for Bulgaria? What new challenges will the country face after accession?
Swot Analysis of "Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership" written by Jordi Gual, M. Stroumina includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bulgaria Bulgarian facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Economics, International business and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bulgaria Bulgarian, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bulgaria Bulgarian 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 Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bulgaria Bulgarian
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 Bulgaria Bulgarian
Strengths Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bulgaria Bulgarian in Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bulgaria Bulgarian in the sector have low bargaining power. Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bulgaria Bulgarian to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Bulgaria Bulgarian 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 Bulgaria Bulgarian is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Bulgaria Bulgarian 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 Bulgaria Bulgarian in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bulgaria Bulgarian 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 Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Bulgaria Bulgarian is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– Bulgaria Bulgarian has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bulgaria Bulgarian to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Bulgaria Bulgarian has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bulgaria Bulgarian 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Bulgaria Bulgarian 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 Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Organizational Resilience of Bulgaria Bulgarian
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bulgaria Bulgarian does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Bulgaria Bulgarian is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bulgaria Bulgarian to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bulgaria Bulgarian to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Bulgaria Bulgarian has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership 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.
Weaknesses Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Bulgaria Bulgarian 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Bulgaria Bulgarian is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Bulgaria Bulgarian needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bulgaria Bulgarian to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership, 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership, it seems that the employees of Bulgaria Bulgarian 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Bulgaria Bulgarian 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. Bulgaria Bulgarian 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Bulgaria Bulgarian 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Bulgaria Bulgarian 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership 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 Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Bulgaria Bulgarian is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Bulgaria Bulgarian 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 - Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership, is just above the industry average. Bulgaria Bulgarian 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jordi Gual, M. Stroumina suggests that, Bulgaria Bulgarian 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.
Opportunities Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership | 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 Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Bulgaria Bulgarian 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 Bulgaria Bulgarian to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bulgaria Bulgarian 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.
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. Bulgaria Bulgarian 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 Bulgaria Bulgarian in the consumer business. Now Bulgaria Bulgarian can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bulgaria Bulgarian has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bulgaria Bulgarian to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership case study. Bulgaria Bulgarian can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bulgaria Bulgarian 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, Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– Bulgaria Bulgarian 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
– Bulgaria Bulgarian 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.
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. Bulgaria Bulgarian 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. Bulgaria Bulgarian can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Loyalty marketing
– Bulgaria Bulgarian 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Bulgaria Bulgarian is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bulgaria Bulgarian in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Global Business segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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. Bulgaria Bulgarian can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Threats Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership are -
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. Bulgaria Bulgarian needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Bulgaria Bulgarian business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Bulgaria Bulgarian
– 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 Bulgaria Bulgarian.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bulgaria Bulgarian 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bulgaria Bulgarian 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.
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.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bulgaria Bulgarian 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bulgaria Bulgarian 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.
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. Bulgaria Bulgarian can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Bulgaria Bulgarian 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. Bulgaria Bulgarian can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bulgaria Bulgarian with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Bulgaria Bulgarian.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership 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 Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership 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 Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership 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 Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership 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 Bulgaria: On the Road to EU Membership 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 Bulgaria Bulgarian needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
