Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System
In June 2014, Chartered Speed Private Limited, the contract provider for the much acclaimed Bus Rapid Transit System of Ahmedabad, India, would like to improve customer service in order to position itself strongly during upcoming contract renewal talks with Ahmedabad Janmarg Limited, the municipal body responsible for the system. Buses arrive at the company's workshops during the night for daily repairs and leave the next morning for their scheduled runs. However, given time and resource constraints, bus departures may either be delayed or buses may have to leave the workshop without the scheduled repair operations. Moreover, there is a long list of deficiencies with the buses or drivers and of incidents, such as accidents or breakdowns, that can result in financial penalties to the company. How should maintenance activities be designed to minimize the penalty losses and guarantee high customer service levels? Authors are affiliated with Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad.
Swot Analysis of "Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System" written by Debjit Roy, John Joy, Vaibhav Malhotra includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ahmedabad Buses facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Time management and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ahmedabad Buses, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ahmedabad Buses 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 Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ahmedabad Buses
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 Ahmedabad Buses
Strengths Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ahmedabad Buses in Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ahmedabad Buses has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ahmedabad Buses 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Ahmedabad Buses 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 lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Ahmedabad Buses 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 Ahmedabad Buses in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ahmedabad Buses is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System 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
– Ahmedabad Buses has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System 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.
Learning organization
- Ahmedabad Buses 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 Ahmedabad Buses is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Ahmedabad Buses
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ahmedabad Buses does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ahmedabad Buses to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ahmedabad Buses to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ahmedabad Buses 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 Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ahmedabad Buses 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ahmedabad Buses is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System 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 Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ahmedabad Buses is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System 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
Ahmedabad Buses 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Debjit Roy, John Joy, Vaibhav Malhotra suggests that, Ahmedabad Buses 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ahmedabad Buses products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ahmedabad Buses needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ahmedabad Buses 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System, is just above the industry average. Ahmedabad Buses needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System HBR case study mentions - Ahmedabad Buses 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System 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 Ahmedabad Buses has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ahmedabad Buses 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Ahmedabad Buses, firm in the HBR case study Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ahmedabad Buses has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Ahmedabad Buses even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Opportunities Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System | 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 Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ahmedabad Buses 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, Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ahmedabad Buses 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 Ahmedabad Buses to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ahmedabad Buses 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ahmedabad Buses to increase its market reach. Ahmedabad Buses 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ahmedabad Buses to conduct training and development for its employees across the world. This will result in not only reducing the cost of training but also help employees in different part of the world to integrate with the headquarter work culture, ethos, and standards.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Leadership & Managing People industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Ahmedabad Buses can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Ahmedabad Buses can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ahmedabad Buses 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Ahmedabad Buses can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Ahmedabad Buses has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Ahmedabad Buses 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.
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. Ahmedabad Buses can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Ahmedabad Buses in the consumer business. Now Ahmedabad Buses can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ahmedabad Buses has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ahmedabad Buses to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System case study. Ahmedabad Buses can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ahmedabad Buses with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ahmedabad Buses 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 wage structure of Ahmedabad Buses
– 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 Ahmedabad Buses.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ahmedabad Buses 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 Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ahmedabad Buses 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System, Ahmedabad Buses 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 .
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. Ahmedabad Buses needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Ahmedabad Buses can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ahmedabad Buses is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Ahmedabad Buses business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ahmedabad Buses 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ahmedabad Buses has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ahmedabad Buses 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ahmedabad Buses 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System 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 Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System 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 Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System 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 Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System 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 Chartered Speed and the Bus Rapid Transit System 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 Ahmedabad Buses needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.