Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House
This case series focuses on the challenges faced by prestigious arts organizations when confronted with new cultural arts consumption modes, especially those created by the explosion of digital consumption opportunities. In 2012/13, the Wiener Staatsoper (the Vienna State Opera) enjoyed a 99 per cent occupancy rate but, apart from the national broadcasting network, lacked a presence in the digital arena. In contrast, performances by New York's Metropolitan Opera could be viewed in movie theatres around the world. The Staatsoper also faced financial challenges shared by opera houses around the world. Should the Staatsoper enter the digital arena? If so, what adaptations would be required in its business model? Dagmar Abfalter is affiliated with UniversitA?t fA?r Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien. Sebasien Boutonnet is affiliated with HEC Montreal. Serge Poisson-de Haro is affiliated with HEC Montreal.
Swot Analysis of "Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House" written by Dagmar Abfalter, Sebastien Boutonnet, Serge Poisson-de-Haro includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Staatsoper Opera facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Decision making, Technology and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is backlash against globalization,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Staatsoper Opera, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Staatsoper Opera 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 Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Staatsoper Opera
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 Staatsoper Opera
Strengths Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Staatsoper Opera in Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Staatsoper Opera is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Staatsoper Opera 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 Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Staatsoper Opera in the sector have low bargaining power. Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Staatsoper Opera to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Staatsoper Opera 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 Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Staatsoper Opera 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 Dagmar Abfalter, Sebastien Boutonnet, Serge Poisson-de-Haro 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Staatsoper Opera 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Staatsoper Opera in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Staatsoper Opera has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Staatsoper Opera 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.
Learning organization
- Staatsoper Opera 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 Staatsoper Opera is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Staatsoper Opera is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Staatsoper Opera
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Staatsoper Opera does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Staatsoper Opera has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Staatsoper Opera to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Staatsoper Opera 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House 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 Staatsoper Opera 's lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Staatsoper Opera 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House, in the dynamic environment Staatsoper Opera has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Staatsoper Opera has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House, is just above the industry average. Staatsoper Opera 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Staatsoper Opera 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. Staatsoper Opera 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Staatsoper Opera is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Staatsoper Opera 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Staatsoper Opera 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Staatsoper Opera products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Staatsoper Opera needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Dagmar Abfalter, Sebastien Boutonnet, Serge Poisson-de-Haro suggests that, Staatsoper Opera 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.
Opportunities Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House | 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 Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House are -
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 Staatsoper Opera 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 Staatsoper Opera 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Staatsoper Opera 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. Staatsoper Opera can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Staatsoper Opera can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Staatsoper Opera operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Staatsoper Opera can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Staatsoper Opera is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Staatsoper Opera 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 Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Staatsoper Opera to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Staatsoper Opera 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Staatsoper Opera 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.
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 Staatsoper Opera in the consumer business. Now Staatsoper Opera can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Staatsoper Opera to increase its market reach. Staatsoper Opera 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.
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. Staatsoper Opera 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. Staatsoper Opera 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.
Threats Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Staatsoper Opera has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Staatsoper Opera needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House, Staatsoper Opera 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 .
Environmental challenges
– Staatsoper Opera 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. Staatsoper Opera can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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 Staatsoper Opera 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. Staatsoper Opera can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Staatsoper Opera 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Staatsoper Opera 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 Staatsoper Opera
– 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 Staatsoper Opera.
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 Staatsoper Opera is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Staatsoper Opera 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Staatsoper Opera 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 Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House .
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 Staatsoper Opera.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House 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 Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House 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 Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House 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 Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House 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 Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House 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 Staatsoper Opera needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.