Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish?
On July 19, 2013, the documentary Blackfish was released. The movie claimed to have uncovered a series of animal abuses at SeaWorld and alluded to the negative impact of captivity on orcas, known as killer whales, which had resulted in the harm and even death of whale trainers. Whether real or alleged, such negative publicity threatened to affect the company's image, stock prices, profits, and many of the company's corporate relations. SeaWorld now faced several options in terms of responding to the movie release: ignore it, respond to it, or use it as an opportunity to completely rebrand. Which option would be the best for the company in the long run? The authors are affiliated with University of Alberta.
Authors :: Joel Gehman, Kelly Lester, Patrick Ng, Jennifer McEwen
Swot Analysis of "Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish?" written by Joel Gehman, Kelly Lester, Patrick Ng, Jennifer McEwen includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Seaworld Blackfish facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Seaworld Blackfish, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Seaworld Blackfish 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 Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Seaworld Blackfish
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 Seaworld Blackfish
Strengths Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Seaworld Blackfish in Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? 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
– Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Seaworld Blackfish to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Seaworld Blackfish to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Seaworld Blackfish digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Seaworld Blackfish 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.
Analytics focus
– Seaworld Blackfish 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 Joel Gehman, Kelly Lester, Patrick Ng, Jennifer McEwen 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.
Training and development
– Seaworld Blackfish has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Seaworld Blackfish is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Seaworld Blackfish
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Seaworld Blackfish does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Seaworld Blackfish 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 Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Seaworld Blackfish in the sector have low bargaining power. Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Seaworld Blackfish to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Seaworld Blackfish has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Seaworld Blackfish to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Seaworld Blackfish is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Seaworld Blackfish 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.
Weaknesses Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Seaworld Blackfish 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Seaworld Blackfish 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? 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 Seaworld Blackfish 's lucrative customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Seaworld Blackfish 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. Seaworld Blackfish 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? 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 Seaworld Blackfish has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? HBR case study mentions - Seaworld Blackfish 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Seaworld Blackfish is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Seaworld Blackfish needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Seaworld Blackfish to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Joel Gehman, Kelly Lester, Patrick Ng, Jennifer McEwen suggests that, Seaworld Blackfish 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Seaworld Blackfish is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish?, in the dynamic environment Seaworld Blackfish has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Seaworld Blackfish has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? 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 Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Seaworld Blackfish is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? | 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 Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Seaworld Blackfish 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Seaworld Blackfish 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 Seaworld Blackfish to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Seaworld Blackfish 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.
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. Seaworld Blackfish 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. Seaworld Blackfish 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Seaworld Blackfish 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Seaworld Blackfish is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? 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.
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. Seaworld Blackfish can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Seaworld Blackfish can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Seaworld Blackfish can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Seaworld Blackfish 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Seaworld Blackfish 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.
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 Seaworld Blackfish 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Seaworld Blackfish 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.
Threats Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? are -
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. Seaworld Blackfish 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.
Environmental challenges
– Seaworld Blackfish needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Seaworld Blackfish can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Seaworld Blackfish business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Seaworld Blackfish needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Seaworld Blackfish 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.
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 Seaworld Blackfish
– 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 Seaworld Blackfish.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Seaworld Blackfish 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
– Seaworld Blackfish 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.
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Seaworld Blackfish in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Seaworld Blackfish 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 Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish?, Seaworld Blackfish 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 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Seaworld Blackfish has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Seaworld Blackfish 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 Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? 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 Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? 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 Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? 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 Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? 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 Seaworld: Are Animal Shows Sustainable after Blackfish? 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 Seaworld Blackfish needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.