Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement
In a gradual but profound transition, New York's park system had become dependent on private partners. The private sector's involvement was pervasive by 2003, but came in very different forms. This case, a companion to "Adrian Benepe's Challenge," highlights specific items to map the spectrum of engagement ranging from contracts where government is clearly in control, to philanthropy where government is mostly passive, to a range of complex collaboration in between. The five points of focus are: A?Outsourcing much of the maintenance of the Parks Department's fleet of vehicles; A?The evolution of the Central Park Conservancy from an informal group of volunteers to a sophisticated and well-funded non-profit with full responsibility for managing New York's flagship park; A?Bryant Park's transformation from a drug market to a glittering landmark, under the auspices of a private corporation subject to only limited Parks Department influence; A?The emergence of the Bronx River Alliance, comprising dozens of public and private organizations, as steward for the troubled river and the lands on its banks; A?The single-minded (and almost single-handed) campaign of the entertainer Bette Midler to realize her unique vision for a public park in a rough area of Harlem. HKS Case Number 1744.0
Swot Analysis of "Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement" written by Susan Rosegrant, John D. Donahue includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that A?the Park facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Economy, Joint ventures, Leadership, Operations management, Policy, Project management, Strategic planning and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing commodity prices, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing energy prices, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the A?the Park, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which A?the Park 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 Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of A?the Park
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 A?the Park
Strengths Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of A?the Park in Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that A?the Park 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– A?the Park 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 Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled A?the Park to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped A?the Park to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of A?the Park
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that A?the Park does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– A?the Park has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled A?the Park to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of A?the Park in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– A?the Park 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 Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the A?the Park 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
– A?the Park 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 A?the Park in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- A?the Park 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 A?the Park is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– A?the Park is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Strong track record of project management
– A?the Park is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Weaknesses Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement are -
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of A?the Park supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left A?the Park vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of A?the Park products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, A?the Park needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, A?the Park 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. A?the Park 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of A?the Park, firm in the HBR case study Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
A?the Park 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 Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement, 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement HBR case study mentions - A?the Park 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement 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 A?the Park 's lucrative customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, A?the Park 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at A?the Park 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 A?the Park 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 - Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement | 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 Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement 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. A?the Park 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. A?the Park 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at A?the Park 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– A?the Park 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
– A?the Park 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for A?the Park 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 A?the Park to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– A?the Park 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 Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help A?the Park to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– A?the Park 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.
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. A?the Park can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 A?the Park 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.
Buying journey improvements
– A?the Park can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement 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.
Loyalty marketing
– A?the Park 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.
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 A?the Park in the consumer business. Now A?the Park 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 A?the Park 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.
Threats Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on A?the Park 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. A?the Park 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.
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 A?the Park business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents A?the Park with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 A?the Park in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for A?the Park 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– A?the Park has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, A?the Park 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.
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 A?the Park.
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. A?the Park needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. A?the Park will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– A?the Park 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
– A?the Park 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement 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 Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement 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 Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement 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 Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement 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 Parks and Partnership in New York City (B): The Spectrum of Engagement 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 A?the Park needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
