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The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster


In July 2013, the chairman of Montreal Maine & Atlantic Railway is facing a public outcry as well as possible bankruptcy and the revocation of his operating licence. When one of the company's trains derailed in the town of Lac-MA?gantic, Quebec, several of its cars carrying crude oil exploded. The explosions and subsequent fires destroyed the downtown core and killed several dozen people. The oil spill also contaminated the local lake and river, leading to an environmental disaster for the community. The company was slow in issuing a press release, which pointed the finger of blame on the train's engineer and the fire department that had responded to an earlier engine fire on the train. Someone had powered down the train and that had released the brakes. Since the train was parked on an incline, without brakes it had rolled into town, gathering speed until it hit a crossroads and derailed. Five days after the derailment, the chairman finally visited the town where he spoke off the cuff and without French translation, further angering the grieving citizens. Now he faces the kind of public and professional censure that might end his career.

Authors :: Michael Sider, Mary Weil, Brian Dunphy

Topics :: Leadership & Managing People

Tags :: , SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster" written by Michael Sider, Mary Weil, Brian Dunphy includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Gantic Brakes facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Gantic Brakes, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Gantic Brakes 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 The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Gantic Brakes
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 Gantic Brakes




Strengths The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Gantic Brakes in The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster Harvard Business Review case study are -

Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field

– Gantic Brakes 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 Gantic Brakes in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Innovation driven organization

– Gantic Brakes is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Gantic Brakes in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Gantic Brakes is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster 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.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Gantic Brakes 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 The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Analytics focus

– Gantic Brakes is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Michael Sider, Mary Weil, Brian Dunphy can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Gantic Brakes 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry

– The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Gantic Brakes to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Gantic Brakes to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Gantic Brakes has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Gantic Brakes 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Gantic Brakes has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

High brand equity

– Gantic Brakes has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Gantic Brakes to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.






Weaknesses The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster are -

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Gantic Brakes 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.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Gantic Brakes is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Gantic Brakes 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.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster 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 Gantic Brakes has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

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 Gantic Brakes supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Gantic Brakes vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster, it seems that the employees of Gantic Brakes 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Gantic Brakes needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Gantic Brakes is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Gantic Brakes needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Gantic Brakes to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster HBR case study mentions - Gantic Brakes 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster 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 The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Gantic Brakes is planning to shift buying processes online.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster 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 Gantic Brakes 's lucrative customers.




Opportunities The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster | 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 The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster are -

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Gantic Brakes 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 The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Gantic Brakes to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

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 Gantic Brakes in the consumer business. Now Gantic Brakes can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Gantic Brakes 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 Gantic Brakes 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. Gantic Brakes can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Buying journey improvements

– Gantic Brakes can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Gantic Brakes can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Gantic Brakes to increase its market reach. Gantic Brakes 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Gantic Brakes 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, Gantic Brakes is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Gantic Brakes 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.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Gantic Brakes 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.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Gantic Brakes can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Gantic Brakes operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.

Identify volunteer opportunities

– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Gantic Brakes can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.




Threats The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster are -

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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Gantic Brakes is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

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 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. Gantic Brakes needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Gantic Brakes with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

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 Gantic Brakes business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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 Gantic Brakes.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Gantic Brakes 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.

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. Gantic Brakes 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Gantic Brakes 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.

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. Gantic Brakes can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Gantic Brakes 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.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Gantic Brakes has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Gantic Brakes 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.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster 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 The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster 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 The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster 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 The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster 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 The Lac-MA?gantic Disaster 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 Gantic Brakes needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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