Swot Analysis of "Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road"" written by Arthur I Segel includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bonnie Road facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial analysis, Financial management, Mergers & acquisitions and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road"
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bonnie Road, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bonnie Road 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 Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bonnie Road
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field.
4. Making a Innovation & Entrepreneurship topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Bonnie Road
Strengths Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bonnie Road in Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bonnie Road 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 Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bonnie Road is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Strong track record of project management
– Bonnie Road 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bonnie Road to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bonnie Road to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Bonnie Road 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.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Bonnie Road digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bonnie Road 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Bonnie Road is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Bonnie Road 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 Arthur I Segel 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.
Organizational Resilience of Bonnie Road
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bonnie Road does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Bonnie Road 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 Bonnie Road is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bonnie Road in the sector have low bargaining power. Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bonnie Road to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Bonnie Road has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" 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 Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road", it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Bonnie Road supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road", it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Bonnie Road vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Bonnie Road is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Bonnie Road needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bonnie Road to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bonnie Road is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Bonnie Road 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Bonnie Road 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 - Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" 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 Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" 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 Bonnie Road has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Bonnie Road 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Bonnie Road 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Bonnie Road products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Bonnie Road needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Bonnie Road needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Opportunities Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" | 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 Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" are -
Buying journey improvements
– Bonnie Road can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Bonnie Road is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Bonnie Road 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 Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bonnie Road 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 Bonnie Road 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bonnie Road to increase its market reach. Bonnie Road will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Bonnie Road has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Bonnie Road to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" case study. Bonnie Road can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Bonnie Road can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
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. Bonnie Road can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bonnie Road 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.
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 Bonnie Road in the consumer business. Now Bonnie Road can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bonnie Road 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Bonnie Road can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Bonnie Road operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Bonnie Road can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bonnie Road in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Bonnie Road needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Bonnie Road 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bonnie Road is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Bonnie Road 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. Bonnie Road can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bonnie Road with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bonnie Road 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Bonnie Road 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 Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bonnie Road 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
– Bonnie Road 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road", Bonnie Road may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Innovation & Entrepreneurship .
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 Bonnie Road in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Bonnie Road has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bonnie Road needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" 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 Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" 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 Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" 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 Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" 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 Real Estate Finance: A Technical Note Based on "Bonnie Road" 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 Bonnie Road needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.