TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment
TwinHills was a proposed community development project by a private land developer in Calgary, Canada. The developer's utopian vision was to create a community that met a "five bottom line" model of economic, social, environmental, technological, and spiritual components. This vision was not necessarily shared by the agencies involved in the development approval process, including those in city council. The landowner identified social return on investment (SROI) as a possible tool to use to demonstrate the value of the community and expedite approvals. Two students took on the task of researching SROI and recommending specific applications for the TwinHills project. However, they encountered problems that complicated the decision process. What recommendations should the students make regarding the use of SROI for this project? They would have to use skills including cost-benefit and stakeholder analysis, while absorbing and applying the new concept of SROI to suggest the most appropriate course of action. Elizabeth Henderson is affiliated with not a professor but at University of Calgary.
Authors :: Mahrukh Tahir, Elizabeth Henderson, Irene M. Herremans
Swot Analysis of "TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment" written by Mahrukh Tahir, Elizabeth Henderson, Irene M. Herremans includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sroi Twinhills facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Social responsibility and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, geopolitical disruptions,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sroi Twinhills, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sroi Twinhills 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 TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sroi Twinhills
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 Sroi Twinhills
Strengths TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sroi Twinhills in TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sroi Twinhills to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sroi Twinhills to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Sroi Twinhills 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Sroi Twinhills is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sroi Twinhills digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sroi Twinhills 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Sroi Twinhills 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.
High brand equity
– Sroi Twinhills has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Sroi Twinhills to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Sroi Twinhills 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 Sroi Twinhills in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sroi Twinhills in the sector have low bargaining power. TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sroi Twinhills to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sroi Twinhills has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sroi Twinhills 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.
Organizational Resilience of Sroi Twinhills
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Sroi Twinhills does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Sroi Twinhills is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Sroi Twinhills 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 TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Leadership & Managing People 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Sroi Twinhills 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment HBR case study mentions - Sroi Twinhills 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment 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 Sroi Twinhills has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment, it seems that the employees of Sroi Twinhills 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sroi Twinhills 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. Sroi Twinhills 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Sroi Twinhills has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
Lack of clear differentiation of Sroi Twinhills products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Sroi Twinhills needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment, in the dynamic environment Sroi Twinhills has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Sroi Twinhills has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Sroi Twinhills supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Sroi Twinhills vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Sroi Twinhills, firm in the HBR case study TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment | 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 TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment are -
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. Sroi Twinhills can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sroi Twinhills 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sroi Twinhills can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sroi Twinhills operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Sroi Twinhills 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, TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Sroi Twinhills 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Sroi Twinhills is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sroi Twinhills 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sroi Twinhills 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Sroi Twinhills 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sroi Twinhills 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 TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sroi Twinhills to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Sroi Twinhills 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. Sroi Twinhills 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Sroi Twinhills 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 Sroi Twinhills to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Sroi Twinhills 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.
Threats TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Sroi Twinhills 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 TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment .
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 Sroi Twinhills.
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 Sroi Twinhills business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Sroi Twinhills 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 Sroi Twinhills 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
– Sroi Twinhills 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.
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 Sroi Twinhills in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Sroi Twinhills
– 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 Sroi Twinhills.
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. Sroi Twinhills needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sroi Twinhills has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sroi Twinhills needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Leadership & Managing People sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment, Sroi Twinhills 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment 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 TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment 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 TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment 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 TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment 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 TwinHills Centro: Social Return on Investment 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 Sroi Twinhills needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
