Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel?
This article embarks on a road trip to NASCAR, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, to take a close look at why cheating occurs within that organization. Two arguments drive the article, namely that NASCAR (1) may not be able to stop cheating particularly within the current context, and (2) might not want or be motivated to stop cheating. Obstacles complicating NASCAR's efforts to stop cheating include the long-standing culture of unethical behavior within stock car racing, and the inconsistent imposition of punishments by NASCAR which drivers and race teams perceive as favoritism and unfair treatment. Yellow flags that raise caution include pressure from unwavering fans, and the friction between innovation and maintaining parity among teams. Proposed solutions include changing the culture within the NASCAR community, as well as developing ethical role models, both of which require major action by NASCAR's top managers to signal the importance of ethical behavior. Other key stakeholders such as sponsors and fans must create incentives and rewards for ethical behavior, and consider reducing or ending support for drivers and teams that engage in unethical conduct. Our analysis and recommendations have broad applications because NASCAR is an archetype of a large organization attempting to reduce cheating and unethical behavior.
Authors :: Melissa S Baucus, William I. Norton Jr., Beth Davis-Sramek, William Meek
Swot Analysis of "Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel?" written by Melissa S Baucus, William I. Norton Jr., Beth Davis-Sramek, William Meek includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cheating Nascar facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Regulation and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing commodity prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cheating Nascar, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cheating Nascar 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 Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cheating Nascar
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 Cheating Nascar
Strengths Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cheating Nascar in Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cheating Nascar in the sector have low bargaining power. Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cheating Nascar to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cheating Nascar is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Cheating Nascar has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? 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 Cheating Nascar digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cheating Nascar has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Cheating Nascar to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Cheating Nascar to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cheating Nascar is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? 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
– Cheating Nascar is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Cheating Nascar 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 Cheating Nascar is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Cheating Nascar 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
– Cheating Nascar 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 Cheating Nascar in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cheating Nascar 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.
Weaknesses Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cheating Nascar 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 Cheating Nascar 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel?, in the dynamic environment Cheating Nascar has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cheating Nascar has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Cheating Nascar 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel?, it seems that the employees of Cheating Nascar 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cheating Nascar has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel?, 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? 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 Cheating Nascar 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? 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 Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cheating Nascar is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Cheating Nascar supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cheating Nascar vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Cheating Nascar is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Cheating Nascar needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Cheating Nascar to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? | 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 Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Cheating Nascar 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Cheating Nascar 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, Cheating Nascar can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cheating Nascar operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cheating Nascar 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 Cheating Nascar to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cheating Nascar 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Cheating Nascar 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 Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cheating Nascar to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cheating Nascar in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Buying journey improvements
– Cheating Nascar can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Cheating Nascar to increase its market reach. Cheating Nascar will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cheating Nascar can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cheating Nascar 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.
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. Cheating Nascar can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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. Cheating Nascar can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? are -
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 Cheating Nascar.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cheating Nascar has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cheating Nascar 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel?, Cheating Nascar 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Cheating Nascar 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.
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 Cheating Nascar business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Cheating Nascar 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Cheating Nascar 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cheating Nascar 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.
Increasing wage structure of Cheating Nascar
– 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 Cheating Nascar.
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. Cheating Nascar can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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. Cheating Nascar needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Cheating Nascar 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? 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 Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? 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 Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? 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 Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? 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 Cheating and NASCAR: Who's at the Wheel? 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 Cheating Nascar needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.