Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A)
It is May 2007, and Jose Rodriguez has just won the election for mayor of Santa Barbara de Tapirin, a small town located at an oil area in Venezuela's mid-eastern region. Santa Barbara de Tapir'n is the capital of a scarcely populated municipality with abundant fiscal revenues coming largely from transfers made by the national government to communities in oil areas. The town is nevertheless a quiet, isolated place, with little economic activity, high unemployment, and unreliable public services with incomplete coverage. Despite this, in recent years, a large number of low-income immigrants have arrived in town, attracted by the oil economy, (illegally) seizing lands in Santa Barbara's outskirts. Jose Rodriguez wants to turn the town around, leading it out of its economic stagnation and guiding it to a path of greater prosperity and development. To this end, he has asked a team of advisors to help him gain a better understanding of the causes underlying Santa Barbara's stagnation and to formulate impactful solutions. This case describes a complex scenario so that students can explore a town's issues as viewed from the vantage point of a mayor, using standard techniques to analyze public policies. It also provides information that can be used in social investment project elaboration trials. IESA's case collection
Swot Analysis of "Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A)" written by Josefina F. Bruni-Celli includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Santa Town facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Economic development, Policy and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Santa Town, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Santa Town 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 Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Santa Town
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 Santa Town
Strengths Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Santa Town in Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Santa Town
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Santa Town does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Santa Town 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 Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Santa Town digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Santa Town 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Santa Town to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Santa Town to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Santa Town 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 Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Santa Town 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.
Learning organization
- Santa Town 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 Santa Town is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Santa Town 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Santa Town in the sector have low bargaining power. Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Santa Town to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Santa Town is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Santa Town is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Santa Town 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Santa Town 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 - Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Santa Town has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High dependence on 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 Santa Town supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Santa Town vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A), is just above the industry average. Santa Town 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 harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Santa Town is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) 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 Santa Town has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Santa Town 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. Santa Town 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) 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 Santa Town 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Santa Town is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Santa Town needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Santa Town to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Santa Town products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Santa Town needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) | 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 Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) are -
Buying journey improvements
– Santa Town can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Santa Town 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
– Santa Town 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.
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. Santa Town 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. Santa Town 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Santa Town 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Santa Town to increase its market reach. Santa Town 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Santa Town is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) 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.
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 Santa Town in the consumer business. Now Santa Town 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 Santa Town has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Santa Town to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) case study. Santa Town can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Santa Town can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Santa Town operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Santa Town 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.
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. Santa Town can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Santa Town 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.
Threats Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) are -
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 Santa Town in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
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. Santa Town can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Santa Town 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.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Santa Town 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. Santa Town can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Santa Town 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.
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 Santa Town business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Santa Town is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Santa Town has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Santa Town 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Santa Town 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Santa Town 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.
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 Santa Town.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) 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 Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) 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 Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) 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 Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) 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 Local Development Policy for Santa Barbara de Tapirin (A) 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 Santa Town needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
