Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country
Cochin International Airport opened in 1999 to widespread acclaim as the first and only airport to be constructed and operated by a private company in India. By 2001 the airport was generating enough revenue to cover its operating costs, but not enough to service its debt or to pay dividends to its shareholders. The airport company was already in technical default to its lenders, and its Managing Director had to figure out quickly how to improve profits or to convince shareholders to make further large infusions of equity. This case is intended to support a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of having private companies build and operate major infrastructure facilities, such as airports. It was developed for use in an executive program on the privatization and regulation of infrastructure and utilities, but it could also be used in Master's level courses on privatization, infrastructure, and industrial policy. HKS Case Number 1650.0
Swot Analysis of "Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country" written by Jose Gomez-Ibanez, Jay H. Walder includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Airport Cochin facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Innovation, International business, Joint ventures, Strategic planning, Sustainability and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Airport Cochin, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Airport Cochin 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 Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Airport Cochin
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 Airport Cochin
Strengths Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Airport Cochin in Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Airport Cochin in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Learning organization
- Airport Cochin 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 Airport Cochin is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Airport Cochin 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 Jose Gomez-Ibanez, Jay H. Walder 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry
– Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Airport Cochin to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Airport Cochin to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Airport Cochin has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Airport Cochin is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country 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.
Ability to lead change in Innovation & Entrepreneurship field
– Airport Cochin 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 Airport Cochin in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Airport Cochin
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Airport Cochin does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Airport Cochin 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 Airport Cochin in the sector have low bargaining power. Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Airport Cochin to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Airport Cochin is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country, in the dynamic environment Airport Cochin has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Airport Cochin has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Airport Cochin has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Airport Cochin even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country 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 Airport Cochin 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Airport Cochin products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Airport Cochin needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country HBR case study mentions - Airport Cochin 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 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 Airport Cochin supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Airport Cochin vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country 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 Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Airport Cochin is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Airport Cochin 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country, it seems that the employees of Airport Cochin don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Airport Cochin 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 - Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Airport Cochin 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.
Opportunities Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country | 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 Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country are -
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Airport Cochin can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Airport Cochin 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Airport Cochin 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Airport Cochin has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Airport Cochin to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country case study. Airport Cochin can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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 Airport Cochin 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Airport Cochin 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, Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country, 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. Airport Cochin can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Airport Cochin 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Airport Cochin 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 Airport Cochin to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Airport Cochin 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Airport Cochin 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
– Airport Cochin 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 Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Airport Cochin to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Airport Cochin 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.
Threats Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country are -
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 Airport Cochin.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Airport Cochin 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country, Airport Cochin 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 .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Airport Cochin 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 Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Airport Cochin is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Airport Cochin
– 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 Airport Cochin.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Airport Cochin 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Airport Cochin 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.
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 Airport Cochin business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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 Airport Cochin in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Airport Cochin with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country 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 Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country 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 Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country 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 Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country 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 Cochin International Airport: Gateway to God's Own Country 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 Airport Cochin needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.