Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times
Belmont Abbey College was on the verge of closing when a new president took office in the spring of 2004. Enrolment at the private liberal arts college had dropped to just over 500 students, and net revenues were insufficient to support ongoing operations. Belmont Abbey College was not alone in facing dire financial prospects, however. Higher education in general confronted an array of challenges due to dramatically escalating costs and a significant decline in the number and economic circumstances of prospective students. The president made efforts to strategically position the college in attempting to mitigate costs. In 2014, would his efforts over the last decade-including a bold and perhaps risky move to compete directly on the basis of price-pay off and secure future enrolment? Roger Anderson is affiliated with Bryant University. Michael A. Roberto is affiliated with Bryant University.
Swot Analysis of "Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times" written by Roger Anderson, Michael A. Roberto includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Belmont Abbey facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competitive strategy, Leadership, Marketing and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Belmont Abbey, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Belmont Abbey 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 Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Belmont Abbey
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 Belmont Abbey
Strengths Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Belmont Abbey in Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times 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.
Learning organization
- Belmont Abbey 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 Belmont Abbey is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Belmont Abbey 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 Belmont Abbey in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Belmont Abbey is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Belmont Abbey to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Belmont Abbey to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Belmont Abbey are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Innovation driven organization
– Belmont Abbey is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Belmont Abbey digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Belmont Abbey 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Belmont Abbey has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Belmont Abbey 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 Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Belmont Abbey 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 Roger Anderson, Michael A. Roberto 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Belmont Abbey is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Roger Anderson, Michael A. Roberto suggests that, Belmont Abbey 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Belmont Abbey, firm in the HBR case study Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times 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 Belmont Abbey 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Belmont Abbey is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Belmont Abbey needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Belmont Abbey to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Belmont Abbey 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. Belmont Abbey 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 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 Belmont Abbey supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Belmont Abbey vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times, is just above the industry average. Belmont Abbey 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times 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 Belmont Abbey has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Belmont Abbey has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Belmont Abbey 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Belmont Abbey 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.
Opportunities Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times | 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 Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Belmont Abbey can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Belmont Abbey operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Belmont Abbey is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times 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.
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. Belmont Abbey can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Belmont Abbey in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Belmont Abbey 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Belmont Abbey can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Belmont Abbey 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Belmont Abbey can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times 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.
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. Belmont Abbey can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Belmont Abbey 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 Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Belmont Abbey to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Belmont Abbey 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.
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. Belmont Abbey 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. Belmont Abbey 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Belmont Abbey 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, Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times are -
Increasing wage structure of Belmont Abbey
– 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 Belmont Abbey.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Belmont Abbey is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Belmont Abbey 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Belmont Abbey 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Belmont Abbey 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 Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times .
Environmental challenges
– Belmont Abbey 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. Belmont Abbey can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times, Belmont Abbey 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. Belmont Abbey needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Belmont Abbey 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Belmont Abbey with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
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 Belmont Abbey.
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 Belmont Abbey in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times 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 Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times 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 Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times 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 Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times 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 Belmont Abbey College: Strategy Formulation in Turbulent Times 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 Belmont Abbey needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.