Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation
Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation" concerns the issues that a leading regional nonprofit housing company faced after its charismatic founder, Don Terner, tragically and unexpectedly died. It covers the difficulties faced by the incoming president, who had to preserve the memory of her predecessor while charting new courses for the company. The unusual circumstances illuminate the universal problems of leadership succession in successful businesses. In particular, the case explores the challenges posed created by the growth of an aggressive and entrepreneurial housing development firm with a strong sense of social purpose. Furthermore, the case reveals that a policy of continued growth opened up several alternatives for expanding business, each with their own advantages and disadvantages.
Swot Analysis of "Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation" written by Alexander Von Hoffman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Housing Bridge facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, geopolitical disruptions, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, there is backlash against globalization, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Housing Bridge, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Housing Bridge 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 Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Housing Bridge
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 Housing Bridge
Strengths Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Housing Bridge in Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Housing Bridge is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Housing Bridge has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Housing Bridge to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Training and development
– Housing Bridge has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Housing Bridge to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Housing Bridge to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Housing Bridge
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Housing Bridge does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Housing Bridge digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Housing Bridge has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Housing Bridge has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Housing Bridge 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Housing Bridge is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Housing Bridge 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 Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Housing Bridge in the sector have low bargaining power. Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Housing Bridge to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Housing Bridge 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 Housing Bridge is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Housing Bridge 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 Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Weaknesses Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation, in the dynamic environment Housing Bridge has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Housing Bridge has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Housing Bridge is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation HBR case study mentions - Housing Bridge 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Housing Bridge products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Housing Bridge 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, Housing Bridge 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. Housing Bridge 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 Housing Bridge, firm in the HBR case study Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation, 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Housing Bridge has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Housing Bridge is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Housing Bridge needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Housing Bridge to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Housing Bridge 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation 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 Housing Bridge has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation | 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 Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation are -
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. Housing Bridge 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 Housing Bridge has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Housing Bridge to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation case study. Housing Bridge can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Housing Bridge 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Housing Bridge is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, 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, Housing Bridge can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Housing Bridge operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Housing Bridge 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 Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Housing Bridge to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Housing Bridge 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Housing Bridge can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Housing Bridge 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Housing Bridge 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Housing Bridge 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 Housing Bridge in the consumer business. Now Housing Bridge can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Housing Bridge 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.
Threats Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Housing Bridge 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 Housing Bridge in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Housing Bridge 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. Housing Bridge can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
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. Housing Bridge can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Housing Bridge 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 Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation .
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Housing Bridge 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Housing Bridge is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Housing Bridge business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Housing Bridge has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Housing Bridge 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.
Increasing wage structure of Housing Bridge
– 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 Housing Bridge.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Housing Bridge 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.
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. Housing Bridge needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation 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 Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation 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 Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation 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 Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation 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 Legacy, Transition, and Growth: The Case of BRIDGE Housing Corporation 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 Housing Bridge needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.