Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Global Business
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks
This case is available in only hard copy format (HBP does not have digital distribution rights to the content). As a result, a digital Educator Copy of the case is not available through this web site.A fictitious private equity firm considers whether to buy the international theme park business of the LEGO Group. Considers the origins of theme parks in the United States; the international expansion of Disney theme parks to Tokyo and Paris since the 1970s; and the expansion of the theme park business of the LEGO Group from its home in Billund, Denmark, to Great Britain, Germany, and the United States. The LEGO Group has now announced that it intends to sell the business. Explores the rationale for international theme park business and, in particular, the drivers of profitability of parks in different locations.
Swot Analysis of "Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks" written by Geoffrey G. Jones, Steve Shaheen includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Theme Parks facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, International business and Global Business.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Theme Parks, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Theme Parks 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 Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Theme Parks
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 Theme Parks
Strengths Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Theme Parks in Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Theme Parks 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Theme Parks in the sector have low bargaining power. Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Theme Parks to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Theme Parks is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks 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.
Digital Transformation in Global Business segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Theme Parks digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Theme Parks 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Theme Parks 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 Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Theme Parks 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 Geoffrey G. Jones, Steve Shaheen 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Global Business industry
– Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Theme Parks to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Global Business industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Theme Parks to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Theme Parks 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.
Learning organization
- Theme Parks 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 Theme Parks is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Global Business field
– Theme Parks 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 Theme Parks in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Theme Parks has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Theme Parks 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 Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks 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 Theme Parks has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Theme Parks 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 - Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Theme Parks 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Theme Parks is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks 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 to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks HBR case study mentions - Theme Parks 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks 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 Theme Parks 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks, in the dynamic environment Theme Parks has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Theme Parks has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks 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 Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Theme Parks is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Theme Parks 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Theme Parks 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Global Business strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Opportunities Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks | 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 Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Theme Parks can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Theme Parks 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, Theme Parks 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Theme Parks 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 Theme Parks can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Theme Parks 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Theme Parks 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 Theme Parks to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Theme Parks is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks 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.
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. Theme Parks can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Theme Parks 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 Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Theme Parks to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Theme Parks 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Theme Parks 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Theme Parks 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Theme Parks has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Theme Parks to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks case study. Theme Parks can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Theme Parks with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Theme Parks 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Theme Parks 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Theme Parks 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 Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks .
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. Theme Parks needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Global Business industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Theme Parks 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Theme Parks needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Global Business industry regulations.
Environmental challenges
– Theme Parks 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. Theme Parks can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Global Business industry.
Increasing wage structure of Theme Parks
– 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 Theme Parks.
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 Theme Parks in the Global Business sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Theme Parks 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Theme Parks is facing in Global Business sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks 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 Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks 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 Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks 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 Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks 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 Global Fun: The Internationalization of Theme Parks 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 Theme Parks needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
