Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
The case study describes the work of Deborah Cullinan during her tenure as executive director of Intersection for the Arts and in her new role as executive director of Yerba Buena Center for the Arts (YBCA). The case begins as Cullinan is conducting a strategic refresh of YBCA, and deciding how to navigate an array of opportunities and challenges. Some of the challenges include staff fatigue resulting from a constant push for innovation under her predecessor; skepticism that the focus on the community will diminish artistic excellence; questions about Cullinan's ability to manage a large institution; changes to the Yerba Buena Gardens complex that may affect YBCA's tenancy and 14 percent of its revenue; a fraught environment in which artists and community members are being priced out of San Francisco by the influx of tech companies and their highly-paid workers, potentially altering the character of the city forever.
Authors :: Laura Callanan, Jane Wei-Skillern, Amy O'Callaghan
Topics :: Leadership & Managing People
Tags :: Growth strategy, Leadership, Social enterprise, Social responsibility, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts" written by Laura Callanan, Jane Wei-Skillern, Amy O'Callaghan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Buena Cullinan facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, Leadership, Social enterprise, Social responsibility and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
there is backlash against globalization, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Buena Cullinan, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Buena Cullinan 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 Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Buena Cullinan
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 Buena Cullinan
Strengths Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Buena Cullinan in Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Buena Cullinan in the sector have low bargaining power. Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Buena Cullinan to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Buena Cullinan has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Buena Cullinan 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Buena Cullinan in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Buena Cullinan 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 lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Buena Cullinan 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 Buena Cullinan in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High brand equity
– Buena Cullinan has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Buena Cullinan to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Buena Cullinan is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Buena Cullinan is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 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
– Buena Cullinan has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Buena Cullinan digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Buena Cullinan 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.
Organizational Resilience of Buena Cullinan
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Buena Cullinan does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Weaknesses Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, in the dynamic environment Buena Cullinan has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Buena Cullinan has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Buena Cullinan 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Lack of clear differentiation of Buena Cullinan products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Buena Cullinan needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, it seems that the employees of Buena Cullinan 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 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 Buena Cullinan 's lucrative customers.
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 Buena Cullinan supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Buena Cullinan vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Need for greater diversity
– Buena Cullinan 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Buena Cullinan 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, is just above the industry average. Buena Cullinan 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Buena Cullinan 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.
Opportunities Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts | 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 Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Buena Cullinan 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 Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Buena Cullinan to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Buena Cullinan 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, Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, 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 Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Buena Cullinan can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Buena Cullinan can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Buena Cullinan can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Buena Cullinan is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Buena Cullinan 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Buena Cullinan 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Buena Cullinan 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Buena Cullinan can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Buena Cullinan can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Buena Cullinan operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
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. Buena Cullinan 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. Buena Cullinan 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Buena Cullinan has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Buena Cullinan to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts case study. Buena Cullinan can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts are -
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. Buena Cullinan 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Buena Cullinan 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Buena Cullinan 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 Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts, Buena Cullinan 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 .
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 Buena Cullinan in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Buena Cullinan 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.
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. Buena Cullinan needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Buena Cullinan 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.
Environmental challenges
– Buena Cullinan 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. Buena Cullinan can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Buena Cullinan can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Buena Cullinan
– 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 Buena Cullinan.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 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 Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 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 Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 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 Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 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 Deborah Cullinan and Yerba Buena Center for the Arts 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 Buena Cullinan needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.