Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House
This case series focuses on the challenges faced by prestigious arts organizations when confronted with new cultural arts consumption modes, especially those created by the explosion of digital consumption opportunities. In 2012/13, the Wiener Staatsoper (the Vienna State Opera) enjoyed a 99 per cent occupancy rate but, apart from the national broadcasting network, lacked a presence in the digital arena. In contrast, performances by New York's Metropolitan Opera could be viewed in movie theatres around the world. The Staatsoper also faced financial challenges shared by opera houses around the world. Should the Staatsoper enter the digital arena? If so, what adaptations would be required in its business model? Dagmar Abfalter is affiliated with UniversitA?t fA?r Musik und darstellende Kunst Wien. Sebasien Boutonnet is affiliated with HEC Montreal. Serge Poisson-de Haro is affiliated with HEC Montreal.
Swot Analysis of "Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House" written by Dagmar Abfalter, Sebastien Boutonnet, Serge Poisson-de-Haro includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Staatsoper Opera facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Decision making, Technology and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Staatsoper Opera, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Staatsoper Opera 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 Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Staatsoper Opera
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 Staatsoper Opera
Strengths Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Staatsoper Opera in Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Staatsoper Opera is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– Staatsoper Opera has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Staatsoper Opera to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Staatsoper Opera 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Staatsoper Opera 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 Staatsoper Opera in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Staatsoper Opera
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Staatsoper Opera does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Staatsoper Opera 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 Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Staatsoper Opera in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Staatsoper Opera digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Staatsoper Opera 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Staatsoper Opera has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Staatsoper Opera 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
– Staatsoper Opera is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Staatsoper Opera 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 Staatsoper Opera is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Staatsoper Opera 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Staatsoper Opera is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Staatsoper Opera needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Staatsoper Opera to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House, in the dynamic environment Staatsoper Opera has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Staatsoper Opera has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Staatsoper Opera 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Dagmar Abfalter, Sebastien Boutonnet, Serge Poisson-de-Haro suggests that, Staatsoper Opera 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Staatsoper Opera products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Staatsoper Opera needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House HBR case study mentions - Staatsoper Opera 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Staatsoper Opera 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Staatsoper Opera 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 - Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Staatsoper Opera 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Staatsoper Opera 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.
Opportunities Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House | 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 Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Staatsoper Opera 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Staatsoper Opera 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Staatsoper Opera to increase its market reach. Staatsoper Opera 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.
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. Staatsoper Opera 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. Staatsoper Opera 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Staatsoper Opera 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, Staatsoper Opera 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, Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Staatsoper Opera 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Staatsoper Opera 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Staatsoper Opera can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Staatsoper Opera 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Staatsoper Opera 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 Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Staatsoper Opera to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Staatsoper Opera can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Staatsoper Opera operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Staatsoper Opera has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Staatsoper Opera to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House case study. Staatsoper Opera can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House are -
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Staatsoper Opera in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Staatsoper Opera 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.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Staatsoper Opera 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. Staatsoper Opera can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House, Staatsoper Opera 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 .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Staatsoper Opera 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 Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House .
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Staatsoper Opera has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Staatsoper Opera 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Staatsoper Opera 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 Staatsoper Opera business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Staatsoper Opera 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.
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 Staatsoper Opera.
Increasing wage structure of Staatsoper Opera
– 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 Staatsoper Opera.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House 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 Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House 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 Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House 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 Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House 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 Weiner Staatsoper (A): Streaming from the Vienna Opera House 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 Staatsoper Opera needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
