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WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy


WestJet Airlines grew from a startup regional carrier in 1996 serving five Western Canadian cities to an international airline with more than 80 destinations and 9,000 employees by 2011. In a strategic move to implement code sharing and several other strategic IT applications to enhance WestJet's competitiveness, the CEO and his executive team hired an experienced and highly successful CIO to bring WestJet up to par with other airlines. The new CIO was asked by WestJet to assess its IT competence as part of a corporate drive to gain competitive advantage by delivering innovative guest services. The executive saw IT as the key to WestJet achieving its ambitions and corporate growth so formulated an ambitious plan to restructure the IT organization. But certain senior IT staff members, some of whom had been with the company since the beginning and had played a major role in developing the existing systems, believed the plan was ill advised and unworkable. The executive had to convince both senior management and the IT group that implementing the new IT governance model was essential if WestJet hoped to achieve its strategic goals. Authors Malcolm Munro and Sharaz Khan are affiliated with University of Calgary.

Authors :: Malcolm Munro, Sharaz Khan

Topics :: Leadership & Managing People

Tags :: , SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy" written by Malcolm Munro, Sharaz Khan includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Westjet Airlines facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Westjet Airlines, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Westjet Airlines 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 WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Westjet Airlines
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 Westjet Airlines




Strengths WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Westjet Airlines in WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy Harvard Business Review case study are -

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Westjet Airlines in the sector have low bargaining power. WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Westjet Airlines to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Westjet Airlines digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Westjet Airlines 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.

Organizational Resilience of Westjet Airlines

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Westjet Airlines does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

High brand equity

– Westjet Airlines has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Westjet Airlines to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Westjet Airlines is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Westjet Airlines 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.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy 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.

Diverse revenue streams

– Westjet Airlines is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy 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.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Westjet Airlines 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)

– Westjet Airlines 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 WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field

– Westjet Airlines 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 Westjet Airlines in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Westjet Airlines 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 WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.






Weaknesses WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy are -

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Westjet Airlines 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.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy 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 Westjet Airlines has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Westjet Airlines 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.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy HBR case study mentions - Westjet Airlines 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 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 Westjet Airlines supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Westjet Airlines vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Malcolm Munro, Sharaz Khan suggests that, Westjet Airlines 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy, in the dynamic environment Westjet Airlines has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Westjet Airlines has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Westjet Airlines is planning to shift buying processes online.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Westjet Airlines is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

High operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy 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 Westjet Airlines 's lucrative customers.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy, is just above the industry average. Westjet Airlines 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.




Opportunities WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy | 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 WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy are -

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Westjet Airlines in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Leadership & Managing People segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.

Loyalty marketing

– Westjet Airlines 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.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Westjet Airlines to increase its market reach. Westjet Airlines 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.

Manufacturing automation

– Westjet Airlines 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.

Buying journey improvements

– Westjet Airlines can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy 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.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Westjet Airlines 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.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Westjet Airlines 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 Westjet Airlines to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Westjet Airlines 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.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Westjet Airlines can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

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. Westjet Airlines can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Westjet Airlines 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, WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Westjet Airlines 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.

Developing new processes and practices

– Westjet Airlines 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.




Threats WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy are -

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 Westjet Airlines.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Westjet Airlines with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Westjet Airlines 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 WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy .

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 Westjet Airlines in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy, Westjet Airlines 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 .

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. Westjet Airlines 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.

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 Westjet Airlines 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.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Westjet Airlines 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.

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. Westjet Airlines needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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 Westjet Airlines business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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. Westjet Airlines can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Regulatory challenges

– Westjet Airlines 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.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy 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 WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy 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 WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy 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 WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy 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 WestJet Airlines: Information Technology Governance and Corporate Strategy 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 Westjet Airlines needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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