Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball
Billy Beane and the Oakland A's have 'changed the game' in terms of talent identification, analytics, and player investment in Major League Baseball (MLB). Cases A and B are designed to provide and inspire learning on these topics by recounting Billy Beane's success as the Oakland A's General Manager over the past 16 seasons (1998 to 2013). The case, through analysis of performance and financial data over this time period, establishes Beane as the most efficient GM in MLB and shares concepts, information and data to allow for improved understanding of the barriers and drivers to the adoption of new and disruptive innovations in the sport business.
Authors :: George Foster, Norm Oa??Reilly, Ryan Lippert, Carlos Shimizu
Swot Analysis of "Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball" written by George Foster, Norm Oa??Reilly, Ryan Lippert, Carlos Shimizu includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Beane Billy facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Disruptive innovation and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices,
increasing energy prices, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Beane Billy, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Beane Billy 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 Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Beane Billy
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 Beane Billy
Strengths Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Beane Billy in Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Beane Billy in the sector have low bargaining power. Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Beane Billy to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Beane Billy is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Organizational Resilience of Beane Billy
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Beane Billy does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Beane Billy 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 Beane Billy in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Beane Billy has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Beane Billy to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Beane Billy 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 Foster, Norm Oa??Reilly, Ryan Lippert, Carlos Shimizu 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Beane Billy 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Beane Billy 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Beane Billy to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Beane Billy to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Beane Billy has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Beane Billy 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.
Digital Transformation in Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Beane Billy digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Beane Billy 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.
Weaknesses Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball, 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball, is just above the industry average. Beane Billy 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball HBR case study mentions - Beane Billy 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Beane Billy is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball 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 Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Beane Billy is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Beane Billy supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Beane Billy vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Beane Billy 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Beane Billy 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Beane Billy, firm in the HBR case study Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Beane Billy 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 - Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Beane Billy products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Beane Billy needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball | 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 Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball 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, Beane Billy can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Beane Billy operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Beane Billy 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, Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Beane Billy can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Beane Billy 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Beane Billy 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Beane Billy has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Beane Billy to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball case study. Beane Billy can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Beane Billy to increase its market reach. Beane Billy 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.
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 Beane Billy in the consumer business. Now Beane Billy can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Beane Billy 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.
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. Beane Billy can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Beane Billy can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Beane Billy 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Beane Billy 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 Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Beane Billy to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball are -
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Beane Billy has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Beane Billy 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Beane Billy 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.
Environmental challenges
– Beane Billy 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. Beane Billy can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Beane Billy 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 Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball .
Regulatory challenges
– Beane Billy 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 Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry regulations.
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 Beane Billy business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball, Beane Billy 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 .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Beane Billy 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.
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 Beane Billy in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Beane Billy 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. Beane Billy needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball 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 Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball 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 Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball 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 Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball 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 Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball 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 Beane Billy needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.