The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Communication
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan
Hunter Morgan had looked at several apartments over the past week, and Taylor Hayden's apartment in the Virginia Carlton topped the list. The Virginia Carlton was a newly constructed and well maintained apartment building on Jefferson Park Avenue, located fairly close to the central grounds of the University of Virginia. If there were an available space in the building's underground parking garage, Morgan's car could be left there, and the bus would be the principle mode of transportation for the summer. In addition, the newness of the building made for a bright and pleasant ambiance. The big unknown was the cost, which would be discussed tomorrow morning during a meeting with Hayden. This case and its companion case, "The Virginia Carlton-Taylor Hayden" (UVA-QA-0781), describe a predominantly distributive bargaining situation to which additional issues can be added for the mutual benefit of both parties.
Authors :: Sherwood C. Frey, Lucien Bass, Mahmood, Hassan
Swot Analysis of "The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan" written by Sherwood C. Frey, Lucien Bass, Mahmood, Hassan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Carlton Virginia facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Communication.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Carlton Virginia, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Carlton Virginia 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 The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Carlton Virginia
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Communication field.
4. Making a Communication topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Carlton Virginia
Strengths The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Carlton Virginia in The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Carlton Virginia 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 The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Carlton Virginia is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Carlton Virginia has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Learning organization
- Carlton Virginia 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 Carlton Virginia is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Carlton Virginia in the sector have low bargaining power. The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Carlton Virginia to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Carlton Virginia is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Carlton Virginia 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 Sherwood C. Frey, Lucien Bass, Mahmood, Hassan 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Carlton Virginia is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Carlton Virginia has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Carlton Virginia 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Carlton Virginia is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Carlton Virginia has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Carlton Virginia to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan are -
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 Carlton Virginia supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Carlton Virginia vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Carlton Virginia is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Carlton Virginia 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Carlton Virginia is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Communication segment. Carlton Virginia needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Carlton Virginia to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Carlton Virginia 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan 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 Carlton Virginia has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Carlton Virginia needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Carlton Virginia 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 - The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Communication strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Carlton Virginia 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
– Carlton Virginia 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.
Opportunities The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan | 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 The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan 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, Carlton Virginia can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Carlton Virginia operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Communication sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Carlton Virginia 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 Carlton Virginia to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Carlton Virginia 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 The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Carlton Virginia to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Carlton Virginia can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Carlton Virginia can develop new processes and procedures in Communication 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.
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 Carlton Virginia 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Carlton Virginia in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Communication segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Communication industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Carlton Virginia can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Carlton Virginia 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 Communication segment.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Carlton Virginia 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Carlton Virginia 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Carlton Virginia 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, The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Carlton Virginia 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 The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan are -
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Carlton Virginia 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.
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. Carlton Virginia 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.
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. Carlton Virginia needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Communication industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Carlton Virginia
– 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 Carlton Virginia.
Environmental challenges
– Carlton Virginia 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. Carlton Virginia can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Communication industry.
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 Carlton Virginia.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Carlton Virginia 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Carlton Virginia 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan, Carlton Virginia may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Communication .
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 Carlton Virginia in the Communication sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Carlton Virginia in the Communication industry. The Communication 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Carlton Virginia has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Communication industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Carlton Virginia needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Communication 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 The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan 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 The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan 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 The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan 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 The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan 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 The Virginia Carlton-Hunter Morgan 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 Carlton Virginia needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.