Case Study Description of Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars
This is a Darden case study.The Charlotte Cougars are in the midst of discussions regarding the sponsorship by Burger Bell of the Cougars Cub Club. Negotiations are nearly complete, but eight issues remain before the contract can be signed. This case, together with its companion case, "Cougars Cub Club: Burger Bell" (UV0701), offers the opportunity for a one-on-one negotiation experience in which differences in priorities provide the basis for creating mutual value. In addition, there are issues that can be classified as congruent as well as those that are unavoidably distributive. As a result, debriefings can focus on both the creation and the claiming of value.
Swot Analysis of "Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars" written by Lauren Mishner, Sherwood C. Frey includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cougars Cub facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing, Negotiations and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cougars Cub, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cougars Cub 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 Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cougars Cub
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 Cougars Cub
Strengths Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cougars Cub in Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cougars Cub 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
– Cougars Cub 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 Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Cougars Cub
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cougars Cub does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cougars Cub in the sector have low bargaining power. Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cougars Cub to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
High brand equity
– Cougars Cub has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cougars Cub to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Learning organization
- Cougars Cub 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 Cougars Cub is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Cougars Cub is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cougars Cub is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Cougars Cub digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Cougars Cub 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Cougars Cub 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Cougars Cub is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars, in the dynamic environment Cougars Cub has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cougars Cub has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars 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 Cougars Cub has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Cougars Cub 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars 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 Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Cougars Cub is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cougars Cub 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 - Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars, it seems that the employees of Cougars Cub 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, Cougars Cub is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Cougars Cub 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Cougars Cub 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Cougars Cub 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars HBR case study mentions - Cougars Cub 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 Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars | 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 Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Cougars Cub is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cougars Cub 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 Cougars Cub to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Cougars Cub 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. Cougars Cub can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Cougars Cub 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cougars Cub 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cougars Cub 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cougars Cub 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cougars Cub 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cougars Cub can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Cougars Cub 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cougars Cub has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cougars Cub to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars case study. Cougars Cub can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Cougars Cub 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 Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cougars Cub to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cougars Cub is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Cougars Cub can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars, Cougars Cub 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 .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cougars Cub 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 Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars .
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. Cougars Cub 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cougars Cub has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cougars Cub 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 Cougars Cub with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Cougars Cub
– 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 Cougars Cub.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Cougars Cub 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
– Cougars Cub 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.
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 Cougars Cub.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cougars Cub 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars 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 Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars 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 Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars 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 Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars 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 Cougars Cub Club: Charlotte Cougars 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 Cougars Cub needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.