"Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549
On January 15, 2009, shortly after takeoff from LaGuardia Airport, US Airways Flight 1549 struck a flock of Canada geese. The geese were then sucked into the plane's twin engines, causing total engine failure and the loss of power. Case A of this three-part series recounts how over the following four minutes, Flight 1549's Captain Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger and First Officer Jeffrey Skiles grappled with a variety of extreme challenges. Not only did they have to keep the plane under control, but they also had to quickly decide whether they could make an emergency landing at a nearby airport - or find another alternative to get the plane down safely in one of the most crowded regions in the country. Cases B and C then describe how, after the plane landed in the cold waters of the Hudson River, emergency responders from many agencies and private organizations - converging on the scene without a prior action plan for this type of emergency - scrambled to both rescue passengers and crew and stabilize the aircraft as it began to move downstream. Case Number 1966
Authors :: Jennifer Weeks, Arnold Howitt, Dutch Leonard
Swot Analysis of ""Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549" written by Jennifer Weeks, Arnold Howitt, Dutch Leonard includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that 1549 Plane facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Decision making, Leadership, Organizational culture, Risk management and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the 1549 Plane, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which 1549 Plane 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 "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of 1549 Plane
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 1549 Plane
Strengths "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of 1549 Plane in "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of 1549 Plane in the sector have low bargaining power. "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps 1549 Plane to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– 1549 Plane is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 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 brand equity
– 1549 Plane has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled 1549 Plane to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– 1549 Plane is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For 1549 Plane digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. 1549 Plane 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the 1549 Plane 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.
Organizational Resilience of 1549 Plane
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that 1549 Plane does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that 1549 Plane 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled 1549 Plane to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped 1549 Plane to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 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.
Learning organization
- 1549 Plane 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 1549 Plane is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– 1549 Plane is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549, in the dynamic environment 1549 Plane has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. 1549 Plane has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, 1549 Plane 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of 1549 Plane is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. 1549 Plane needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help 1549 Plane to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though 1549 Plane 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 - "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549, is just above the industry average. 1549 Plane 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at 1549 Plane 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
1549 Plane 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jennifer Weeks, Arnold Howitt, Dutch Leonard suggests that, 1549 Plane 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 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 "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as 1549 Plane is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– 1549 Plane 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 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 1549 Plane has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 | 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 "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, 1549 Plane 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, "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– 1549 Plane 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, 1549 Plane can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that 1549 Plane operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help 1549 Plane to increase its market reach. 1549 Plane 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects 1549 Plane can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for 1549 Plane 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 1549 Plane to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– 1549 Plane 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 "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help 1549 Plane to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for 1549 Plane 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
– 1549 Plane 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at 1549 Plane 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.
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. 1549 Plane can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, 1549 Plane 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– 1549 Plane 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.
Threats "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 are -
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. 1549 Plane needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. 1549 Plane 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– 1549 Plane has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, 1549 Plane 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for 1549 Plane 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 dependence on third party suppliers
– 1549 Plane 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, 1549 Plane 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 "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 .
Increasing wage structure of 1549 Plane
– 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 1549 Plane.
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 1549 Plane.
Regulatory challenges
– 1549 Plane 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that 1549 Plane is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549, 1549 Plane 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 .
Environmental challenges
– 1549 Plane 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. 1549 Plane can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 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 "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 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 "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 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 "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 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 "Miracle on the Hudson" (A): Landing U.S. Airways Flight 1549 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 1549 Plane needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
