World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D)
In January 2000, World Championship Wrestling (WCW)'s executive VP is faced with a challenging decision. He had been appointed the executive VP just three months ago, and was tasked with restoring the company to a profitable position. However, WCW's onscreen product was suffering; ratings for the flagship WCW Monday Nitro (Nitro) program had fallen to their lowest levels in nearly three-and-a-half years. WCW was losing its market leadership position, its viewing audience and even some of its on-screen talent to its major competitor, the World Wrestling Federation (WWF). The executive VP faced problems on a number of fronts: a talent roster low on motivation and morale, turnover among both the writing staff and company leadership, and a rapidly shrinking audience. Furthermore, the current instability in leadership meant that another major change would seriously impact the already-low morale among WCW's on-screen talent and support staff.
Swot Analysis of "World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D)" written by Lyn Purdy, Jason Ravesi includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Wcw Wrestling facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Organizational culture, Strategy and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Wcw Wrestling, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Wcw Wrestling 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 World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Wcw Wrestling
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 Wcw Wrestling
Strengths World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Wcw Wrestling in World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Wcw Wrestling in the sector have low bargaining power. World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Wcw Wrestling to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Wcw Wrestling is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) 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.
Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field
– Wcw Wrestling 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 Wcw Wrestling in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Wcw Wrestling 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 World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Wcw Wrestling
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Wcw Wrestling does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Wcw Wrestling 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 Wcw Wrestling is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Wcw Wrestling is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Lyn Purdy, Jason Ravesi can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Wcw Wrestling digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Wcw Wrestling 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Wcw Wrestling to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Wcw Wrestling to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Wcw Wrestling has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Wcw Wrestling has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Wcw Wrestling 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Wcw Wrestling 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.
Weaknesses World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D), is just above the industry average. Wcw Wrestling 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) HBR case study mentions - Wcw Wrestling 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Wcw Wrestling 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 - World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D), it seems that the employees of Wcw Wrestling 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Wcw Wrestling has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
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 Wcw Wrestling supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Wcw Wrestling vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Wcw Wrestling is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) 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 Wcw Wrestling has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Wcw Wrestling 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. Wcw Wrestling 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Wcw Wrestling is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Wcw Wrestling needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Wcw Wrestling to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) 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 World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Wcw Wrestling is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) | 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 World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) are -
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 Wcw Wrestling in the consumer business. Now Wcw Wrestling can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Wcw Wrestling can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) 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.
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. Wcw Wrestling can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Wcw Wrestling can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Wcw Wrestling has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Wcw Wrestling to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) case study. Wcw Wrestling can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Wcw Wrestling 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, World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Wcw Wrestling 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 World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Wcw Wrestling to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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 Wcw Wrestling 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Wcw Wrestling 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.
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. Wcw Wrestling 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. Wcw Wrestling can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Wcw Wrestling 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 Wcw Wrestling to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Wcw Wrestling 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
– Wcw Wrestling 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.
Threats World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Wcw Wrestling is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Wcw Wrestling 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. Wcw Wrestling 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Wcw Wrestling 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 World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D), Wcw Wrestling 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 .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Wcw Wrestling has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Wcw Wrestling 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.
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.
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 Wcw Wrestling 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 Wcw Wrestling 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Wcw Wrestling 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Wcw Wrestling 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. Wcw Wrestling can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) 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 World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) 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 World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) 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 World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) 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 World Championship Wrestling - A Crisis of Leadership (D) 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 Wcw Wrestling needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
