Swot Analysis of "Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B)" written by Alison Konrad, Cameron Phillips includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that W14562 Dads facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Work-life balance and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, wage bills are increasing, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the W14562 Dads, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which W14562 Dads 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 Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of W14562 Dads
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Leadership & Managing People field.
4. Making a Leadership & Managing People topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of W14562 Dads
Strengths Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of W14562 Dads in Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– W14562 Dads 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 W14562 Dads in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled W14562 Dads to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped W14562 Dads to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that W14562 Dads has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the W14562 Dads 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) 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
– W14562 Dads is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– W14562 Dads is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Analytics focus
– W14562 Dads 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 Alison Konrad, Cameron Phillips 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of W14562 Dads in the sector have low bargaining power. Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps W14562 Dads to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– W14562 Dads 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 Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– W14562 Dads has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. W14562 Dads 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.
Learning organization
- W14562 Dads 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 W14562 Dads is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
W14562 Dads has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Lack of clear differentiation of W14562 Dads products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, W14562 Dads needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) 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 W14562 Dads has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) 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 W14562 Dads 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) 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 Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as W14562 Dads is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, W14562 Dads 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. W14562 Dads 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, W14562 Dads is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of W14562 Dads is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. W14562 Dads needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help W14562 Dads to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, W14562 Dads 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, W14562 Dads 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 Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) HBR case study mentions - W14562 Dads 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.
Opportunities Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) | 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 Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, W14562 Dads 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, Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects W14562 Dads can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– W14562 Dads can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– W14562 Dads 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 Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help W14562 Dads to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. W14562 Dads can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. W14562 Dads 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. W14562 Dads 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, W14562 Dads is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– W14562 Dads can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– W14562 Dads 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for W14562 Dads 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 W14562 Dads to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, W14562 Dads can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that W14562 Dads operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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. W14562 Dads can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 W14562 Dads in the consumer business. Now W14562 Dads can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) are -
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 W14562 Dads business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– W14562 Dads 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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– W14562 Dads has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, W14562 Dads needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People 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.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– W14562 Dads 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B), W14562 Dads may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Regulatory challenges
– W14562 Dads 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 Leadership & Managing People industry regulations.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that W14562 Dads is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– W14562 Dads 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. W14562 Dads can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. W14562 Dads 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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. W14562 Dads can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents W14562 Dads with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 W14562 Dads in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) 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 Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) 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 Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) 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 Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) 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 Vancouver City Savings Credit Union: Working Dads (B) 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 W14562 Dads needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
