Swot Analysis of "Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B)" written by George C. Lodge, David B. Yoffie includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mcdonnell Collision facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Government, International business, Marketing and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mcdonnell Collision, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mcdonnell Collision 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 Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mcdonnell Collision
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 Mcdonnell Collision
Strengths Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mcdonnell Collision in Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Mcdonnell Collision is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Mcdonnell Collision in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Mcdonnell Collision 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 Mcdonnell Collision is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Mcdonnell Collision in the sector have low bargaining power. Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Mcdonnell Collision to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Mcdonnell Collision has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mcdonnell Collision 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mcdonnell Collision to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mcdonnell Collision to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Mcdonnell Collision 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mcdonnell Collision 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 Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Mcdonnell Collision 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 Mcdonnell Collision in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Mcdonnell Collision 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.
Analytics focus
– Mcdonnell Collision 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 George C. Lodge, David B. Yoffie 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.
Weaknesses Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (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 Mcdonnell Collision 's lucrative customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B), it seems that the employees of Mcdonnell Collision 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 to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Mcdonnell Collision is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Mcdonnell Collision 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. Mcdonnell Collision 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Mcdonnell Collision 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 Mcdonnell Collision is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Global Business segment. Mcdonnell Collision needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Mcdonnell Collision to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B), in the dynamic environment Mcdonnell Collision has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Mcdonnell Collision has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Mcdonnell Collision 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (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 Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Mcdonnell Collision is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Mcdonnell Collision 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 - Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (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 Mcdonnell Collision has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (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 Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) are -
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. Mcdonnell Collision can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Mcdonnell Collision 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 Mcdonnell Collision to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Mcdonnell Collision 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Mcdonnell Collision 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 Mcdonnell Collision 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mcdonnell Collision 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.
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. Mcdonnell Collision 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. Mcdonnell Collision 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
– Mcdonnell Collision 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.
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 Mcdonnell Collision in the consumer business. Now Mcdonnell Collision can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Mcdonnell Collision 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Mcdonnell Collision can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Global Business segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Developing new processes and practices
– Mcdonnell Collision 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Mcdonnell Collision has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Mcdonnell Collision to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) case study. Mcdonnell Collision can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) are -
Environmental challenges
– Mcdonnell Collision 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. Mcdonnell Collision can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Mcdonnell Collision 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 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. Mcdonnell Collision needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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. Mcdonnell Collision can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Mcdonnell Collision has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Global Business industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mcdonnell Collision 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Mcdonnell Collision with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Mcdonnell Collision
– 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 Mcdonnell Collision.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Mcdonnell Collision 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 Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B) .
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 Mcdonnell Collision in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Mcdonnell Collision 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.
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. Mcdonnell Collision 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (B), Mcdonnell Collision may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Global Business .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (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 Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (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 Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (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 Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (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 Collision Course in Commercial Aircraft: Boeing-Airbus-McDonnell Douglas--1991 (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 Mcdonnell Collision needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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