Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model
Bridj, a Boston startup that provides Big Data-powered, "pop-up" bus routes that responded to transportation demand, has been in operation for a little over a year and has recently launched service in Washington, D.C., its second market. Despite media acclaim and positive relations with a wide range of stakeholders, Bridj faces challenges controlling costs, driving adoption, and improving its technology.
Swot Analysis of "Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model" written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Daniel Fox includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bridj Acclaim facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Data, Entrepreneurship, Government, Innovation, Technology and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bridj Acclaim, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bridj Acclaim 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 Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bridj Acclaim
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 Bridj Acclaim
Strengths Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bridj Acclaim in Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Bridj Acclaim in the sector have low bargaining power. Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bridj Acclaim to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Bridj Acclaim has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Bridj Acclaim 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 Bridj Acclaim
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bridj Acclaim does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bridj Acclaim is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Innovation driven organization
– Bridj Acclaim is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model 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 Bridj Acclaim 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bridj Acclaim 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 Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Bridj Acclaim 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 Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Bridj Acclaim has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bridj Acclaim to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bridj Acclaim to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Bridj Acclaim 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.
Weaknesses Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bridj Acclaim is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model 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 Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model, in the dynamic environment Bridj Acclaim has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bridj Acclaim has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model 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 Bridj Acclaim 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Bridj Acclaim is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Bridj Acclaim needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Bridj Acclaim to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model, is just above the industry average. Bridj Acclaim needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High dependence on 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 Bridj Acclaim supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Bridj Acclaim vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Bridj Acclaim 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. Bridj Acclaim even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model 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 Bridj Acclaim has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model, it seems that the employees of Bridj Acclaim 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Bridj Acclaim 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model, 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.
Opportunities Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model | 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 Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Bridj Acclaim can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bridj Acclaim to increase its market reach. Bridj Acclaim 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Bridj Acclaim 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, Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Bridj Acclaim 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Bridj Acclaim can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Bridj Acclaim 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.
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 Bridj Acclaim 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 Bridj Acclaim 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Bridj Acclaim can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Bridj Acclaim operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Bridj Acclaim 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 Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Bridj Acclaim 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. Bridj Acclaim 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. Bridj Acclaim 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.
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 Bridj Acclaim in the consumer business. Now Bridj Acclaim can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Bridj Acclaim 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 Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model are -
Increasing wage structure of Bridj Acclaim
– 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 Bridj Acclaim.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bridj Acclaim 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.
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. Bridj Acclaim can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
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. Bridj Acclaim 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bridj Acclaim is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Bridj Acclaim 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Bridj Acclaim 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.
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 Bridj Acclaim business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bridj Acclaim 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model, Bridj Acclaim 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 .
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 Bridj Acclaim in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model 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 Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model 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 Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model 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 Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model 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 Bridj and the Business of Urban Mobility (A): Introducing a New Model 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 Bridj Acclaim needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
