BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It
BMW, the leading luxury car manufacturer in the United States, implemented a new marketing initiative based on its online video services aimed to increase sales of customized vehicles. Prior to the introduction of the "Dream It. Build It. Drive It." program, BMW's SUV sales in America were in decline, and the situation required an immediate management response. With the arrival of the next generation of the X3 model in 2010, BMW launched a new online service allowing customers to watch the creation of their new vehicle through live video streaming. The case addresses the challenges of catering to the North American consumer, where most car buyers want immediate gratification with their purchases. BMW tackled this issue with a complex change in its production system to decrease lead times for its new vehicles, transferring a complete assembly line from Austria to South Carolina.
Swot Analysis of "BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It" written by Dmitry Alenuskin, Andreas Schotter includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Bmw Dream facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Marketing and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Bmw Dream, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Bmw Dream 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 BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Bmw Dream
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 Bmw Dream
Strengths BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Bmw Dream in BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Bmw Dream is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Bmw Dream 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 Dmitry Alenuskin, Andreas Schotter 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Bmw Dream 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 BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It 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 Bmw Dream in the sector have low bargaining power. BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Bmw Dream to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Bmw Dream is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Bmw Dream 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 Bmw Dream is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Bmw Dream has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Bmw Dream to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Bmw Dream
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Bmw Dream 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 Bmw Dream digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Bmw Dream 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
– BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Bmw Dream to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Bmw Dream to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Bmw Dream 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 BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It are -
Need for greater diversity
– Bmw Dream 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It, 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Bmw Dream has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Bmw Dream 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 - BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It, in the dynamic environment Bmw Dream has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Bmw Dream has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Bmw Dream, firm in the HBR case study BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It 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 Bmw Dream 's lucrative customers.
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 Bmw Dream supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Bmw Dream vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It 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 Bmw Dream has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Bmw Dream is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It 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 decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Bmw Dream 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. Bmw Dream 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.
Opportunities BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It | 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 BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It are -
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Bmw Dream 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Bmw Dream can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Leadership & Managing People segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Leadership & Managing People industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Bmw Dream 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, Bmw Dream 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Bmw Dream to increase its market reach. Bmw Dream 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Bmw Dream 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 Bmw Dream to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Bmw Dream 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Bmw Dream 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Bmw Dream can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Bmw Dream 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.
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. Bmw Dream 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. Bmw Dream 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Bmw Dream 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Bmw Dream is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It 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.
Threats BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It, Bmw Dream 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 .
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.
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. Bmw Dream 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.
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. Bmw Dream can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Bmw Dream with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Bmw Dream 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Bmw Dream 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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Bmw Dream
– 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 Bmw Dream.
Environmental challenges
– Bmw Dream 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. Bmw Dream can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Bmw Dream is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Bmw Dream has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Bmw Dream 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.
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 Bmw Dream in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It 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 BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It 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 BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It 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 BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It 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 BMW of North America: Dream It. Build It. Drive It 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 Bmw Dream needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
