Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont
At the Benedictine monastery of Admont in Austria, which had been economically active for over 940 years, the monks tended to think in centuries rather than quarters. However, the monastery's business director needed to make a decision in a much shorter timeframe. The monastery employed approximately 600 people in its forestry, wine-growing, energy, real estate, services, and industrial businesses. Its largest subsidiary, an industrial manufacturer of wooden floorboards, was faced with severe challenges in 2015, including highly fluctuating demand and a growing pressure on margins due to low-cost competition from Asia. The business director had to decide how to proceed with the loss-making company, bearing in mind his responsibility towards the monastery and its higher purposes (such as providing pastoral care and fostering regional development through the creation of jobs). Dietmar Sternad is affiliated with Carinthia University of Applied Sciences.
Swot Analysis of "Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont" written by Dietmar Sternad includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Monastery Admont facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Manufacturing, Social responsibility, Strategy, Sustainability and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , technology disruption, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
wage bills are increasing, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Monastery Admont, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Monastery Admont 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 Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Monastery Admont
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 Monastery Admont
Strengths Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Monastery Admont in Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Monastery Admont
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Monastery Admont does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Monastery Admont 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 Dietmar Sternad 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
– Monastery Admont is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Monastery Admont 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 Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Monastery Admont is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Monastery Admont 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.
Training and development
– Monastery Admont has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont 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
- Monastery Admont 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 Monastery Admont is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Monastery Admont is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Monastery Admont 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 Monastery Admont in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Monastery Admont in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Monastery Admont is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont, in the dynamic environment Monastery Admont has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Monastery Admont has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Monastery Admont is planning to shift buying processes online.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont 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 Monastery Admont has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Monastery Admont 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 Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont 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 Monastery Admont 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Monastery Admont 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont, is just above the industry average. Monastery Admont 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont, it seems that the employees of Monastery Admont don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Dietmar Sternad suggests that, Monastery Admont is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont HBR case study mentions - Monastery Admont takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Opportunities Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont | 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 Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont are -
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. Monastery Admont 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. Monastery Admont 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Monastery Admont 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Monastery Admont has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Monastery Admont to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont case study. Monastery Admont can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Monastery Admont can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont 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
– Monastery Admont 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Monastery Admont 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, Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Monastery Admont can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Monastery Admont operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Monastery Admont 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.
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 Monastery Admont in the consumer business. Now Monastery Admont can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Monastery Admont 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Monastery Admont 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Monastery Admont 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 Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Monastery Admont to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Monastery Admont 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 Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont are -
Increasing wage structure of Monastery Admont
– 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 Monastery Admont.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Monastery Admont has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Monastery Admont 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.
Environmental challenges
– Monastery Admont 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. Monastery Admont can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Regulatory challenges
– Monastery Admont 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.
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. Monastery Admont needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Monastery Admont 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 Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Monastery Admont 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.
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 Monastery Admont.
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. Monastery Admont 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Monastery Admont 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Monastery Admont is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont 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 Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont 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 Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont 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 Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont 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 Long-Term Orientation in the Benedictine Monastery of Admont 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 Monastery Admont needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
