Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Innovation & Entrepreneurship
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers?
While on vacation in Memphis, former investment manager Andy Wilson discovers a unique "tour bus" that travels over land and through water. He decides to transplant the concept to Boston and to add both historical and theatrical features to the amphibious tour. As he tries to start up Boston Duck Tours, Wilson must figure out how to organize and fund the new venture. The challenges seem overwhelming. He has no relevant experience and very little money. The market is untested and, at best, seasonal. Furthermore, the regulatory barriers are high. Wilson's persistence and creativity provide some solutions, but create additional challenges when it comes to harvesting financial value. This case is particularly useful in the Resourcing and Organizing module of a course on New Ventures.
Swot Analysis of "Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers?" written by Myra M. Hart, Stephanie Dodson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Boston Duck facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Financial management, Joint ventures and Innovation & Entrepreneurship.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Boston Duck, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Boston Duck 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 Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Boston Duck
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 Boston Duck
Strengths Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Boston Duck in Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Boston Duck has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Boston Duck to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Boston Duck 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 Myra M. Hart, Stephanie Dodson 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Boston Duck 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.
Organizational Resilience of Boston Duck
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Boston Duck 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
– Boston Duck 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 Boston Duck in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Boston Duck in the sector have low bargaining power. Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Boston Duck to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Boston Duck 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Boston Duck is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Diverse revenue streams
– Boston Duck is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Boston Duck 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 Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? - 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
– Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Boston Duck to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Boston Duck to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? are -
Need for greater diversity
– Boston Duck 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Boston Duck 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Boston Duck 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers?, it seems that the employees of Boston Duck 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Boston Duck products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Boston Duck needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Boston Duck supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Boston Duck vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers?, is just above the industry average. Boston Duck 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? 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 Boston Duck has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Boston Duck, firm in the HBR case study Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Boston Duck has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Boston Duck is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship segment. Boston Duck needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Boston Duck to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? | 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 Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? are -
Buying journey improvements
– Boston Duck can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Boston Duck can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Boston Duck operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Boston Duck 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Boston Duck can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Boston Duck can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
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. Boston Duck can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Boston Duck is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Boston Duck 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Boston Duck can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Boston Duck 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, Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Boston Duck 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.
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. Boston Duck can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Boston Duck 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Boston Duck 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.
Threats Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Boston Duck 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 Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? .
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. Boston Duck 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 Boston Duck with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Boston Duck
– 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 Boston Duck.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers?, Boston Duck 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 .
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 Boston Duck business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Boston Duck in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Boston Duck has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Innovation & Entrepreneurship industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Boston Duck 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Boston Duck 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
– Boston Duck 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Boston Duck 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? 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 Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? 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 Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? 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 Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? 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 Boston Duck Tours--1996: Has Boston Gone Quackers? 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 Boston Duck needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
