GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division
An assistant account manager is evaluating a loan request from a small trucking company that is planning to expand its fleet in order to bid for a large trucking contract. The decision is centered on the firm's past performance and growth record. Particular attention is paid to the firm's chances of winning the trucking contract and its ability to service the increased debt. New highway safety regulations for trucking companies also play a role in the case.
Swot Analysis of "GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division" written by Elizabeth M.A. Grasby, Tim Silk includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Trucking Contract facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Regulation and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Trucking Contract, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Trucking Contract 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 GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Trucking Contract
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 Trucking Contract
Strengths GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Trucking Contract in GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Trucking Contract 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 Elizabeth M.A. Grasby, Tim Silk 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.
Training and development
– Trucking Contract has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Trucking Contract is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Trucking Contract in the sector have low bargaining power. GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Trucking Contract to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Trucking Contract is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Trucking Contract has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Trucking Contract to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Trucking Contract has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Trucking Contract 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Trucking Contract is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Trucking Contract 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 Trucking Contract is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Trucking Contract to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Trucking Contract to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Trucking Contract 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.
Weaknesses GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division are -
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 Trucking Contract supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Trucking Contract vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division, 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Trucking Contract, firm in the HBR case study GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Trucking Contract 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division 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 Trucking Contract has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Trucking Contract is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division, is just above the industry average. Trucking Contract needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Elizabeth M.A. Grasby, Tim Silk suggests that, Trucking Contract is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Trucking Contract 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division HBR case study mentions - Trucking Contract 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Trucking Contract 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 GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division | 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 GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Trucking Contract in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Manufacturing automation
– Trucking Contract 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Trucking Contract to increase its market reach. Trucking Contract 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Trucking Contract 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Trucking Contract is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division 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.
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 Trucking Contract in the consumer business. Now Trucking Contract can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Trucking Contract can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Trucking Contract 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. Trucking Contract can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Trucking Contract 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Trucking Contract can develop new processes and procedures in Innovation & Entrepreneurship 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Trucking Contract 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 GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Trucking Contract to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Trucking Contract 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Trucking Contract can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Trucking Contract 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.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Trucking Contract.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Trucking Contract is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Trucking Contract 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.
Increasing wage structure of Trucking Contract
– 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 Trucking Contract.
Regulatory challenges
– Trucking Contract 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.
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. Trucking Contract 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.
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. Trucking Contract needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Trucking Contract with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Trucking Contract can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Trucking Contract 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division 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 GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division 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 GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division 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 GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division 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 GE Capital Canada: Commercial Equipment Financing Division 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 Trucking Contract needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
