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 - – geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, 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, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , 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 -
Learning organization
- Beane Billy 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 Beane Billy is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
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.
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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Beane Billy 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 Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
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.
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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Beane Billy 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 Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Beane Billy is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Beane Billy has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Beane Billy is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball 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
– Beane Billy is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
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.
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 -
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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, George Foster, Norm Oa??Reilly, Ryan Lippert, Carlos Shimizu suggests that, Beane Billy 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, Beane Billy 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.
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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball, it seems that the employees of Beane Billy 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball, in the dynamic environment Beane Billy has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Beane Billy has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Beane Billy 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. Beane Billy 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Beane Billy 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Billy Beane and the Oakland Athletics (B): Advanced Metrics Beyond Baseball 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 Beane Billy 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Beane Billy is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Beane Billy needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Beane Billy to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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 -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Beane Billy 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Beane Billy 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.
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.
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.
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.
Manufacturing automation
– Beane Billy 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 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 -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Beane Billy 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.
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. Beane Billy can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Beane Billy 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
– 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.
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.
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 Beane Billy.
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.
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.
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. Beane Billy 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. Beane Billy needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Beane Billy is facing in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 .
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.
