Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions
Summarizes several of the major federal environmental statutes, most notably the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation and Liability Act ("CERCLA" or "Superfund"). Also discusses several state and local regulations.
Authors :: Arthur I Segel, Jeff Mandelbaum, Armen Panossian
Swot Analysis of "Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions" written by Arthur I Segel, Jeff Mandelbaum, Armen Panossian includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Environmental Cercla facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Sustainability and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, increasing energy prices,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Environmental Cercla, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Environmental Cercla 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 Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Environmental Cercla
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 Environmental Cercla
Strengths Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Environmental Cercla in Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Environmental Cercla 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Environmental Cercla 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 Environmental Cercla in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Environmental Cercla digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Environmental Cercla 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Environmental Cercla is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Environmental Cercla 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 Environmental Cercla 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Environmental Cercla 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 Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Environmental Cercla to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Environmental Cercla to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Environmental Cercla is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Environmental Cercla in the sector have low bargaining power. Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Environmental Cercla to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Training and development
– Environmental Cercla has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Environmental Cercla is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions 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.
Weaknesses Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions 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 Environmental Cercla has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions 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 Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Environmental Cercla is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions, in the dynamic environment Environmental Cercla has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Environmental Cercla has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions 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 Environmental Cercla 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Environmental Cercla 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions, it seems that the employees of Environmental Cercla 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Environmental Cercla is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Environmental Cercla products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Environmental Cercla needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Environmental Cercla 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.
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 Environmental Cercla supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Environmental Cercla vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Arthur I Segel, Jeff Mandelbaum, Armen Panossian suggests that, Environmental Cercla 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.
Opportunities Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions | 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 Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions are -
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. Environmental Cercla can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Environmental Cercla to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.
Manufacturing automation
– Environmental Cercla 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Environmental Cercla can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Environmental Cercla 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Environmental Cercla is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Environmental Cercla 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, Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Environmental Cercla in the consumer business. Now Environmental Cercla can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Environmental Cercla 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 Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Environmental Cercla to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Environmental Cercla 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Environmental Cercla 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.
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. Environmental Cercla can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Environmental Cercla 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 Leadership & Managing People segment.
Threats Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions are -
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 Environmental Cercla.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Environmental Cercla has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Environmental Cercla 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Environmental Cercla with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Environmental Cercla 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Environmental Cercla 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.
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. Environmental Cercla 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.
Increasing wage structure of Environmental Cercla
– 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 Environmental Cercla.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Environmental Cercla 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Environmental Cercla 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 Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Environmental Cercla in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The Leadership & Managing People industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
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.
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 Environmental Cercla business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions 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 Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions 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 Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions 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 Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions 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 Environmental Law in Real Estate Transactions 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 Environmental Cercla needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.