Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track
In January 2012, Singapore Mass Rapid Transit (SMRT) Corporation's chief executive officer resigned after two major breakdowns on the North-South Line in December 2011. SMRT was a public transport operator in Singapore, with a transportation network that comprised buses, trains and taxis. The two breakdowns were arguably the largest public transportation incidents in Singapore's history, prompting public outrage and heavy criticism of the CEO's qualifications and personal style. However, it was uncertain whether she, as CEO, bore primary responsibility for the train breakdowns. To what extent did her gender and unconventional style affect the public's perception of her effectiveness as a leader? How much did the media influence the public's perception? Could the train breakdowns have been averted if a CEO with an engineering background or industry-specific experience had been in charge? Vivien K.G. Lim is affiliated with National University of Singapore.
Swot Analysis of "Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track" written by Vivien K.G. Lim, Nikodemus Jaya includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Breakdowns Singapore facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Gender, Influence and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%,
technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Breakdowns Singapore, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Breakdowns Singapore 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 Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Breakdowns Singapore
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 Breakdowns Singapore
Strengths Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Breakdowns Singapore in Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Breakdowns Singapore has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track 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.
Analytics focus
– Breakdowns Singapore 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 Vivien K.G. Lim, Nikodemus Jaya 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Breakdowns Singapore has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Breakdowns Singapore 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.
Digital Transformation in Leadership & Managing People segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Breakdowns Singapore digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Breakdowns Singapore 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Breakdowns Singapore is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Breakdowns Singapore is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Breakdowns Singapore to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Breakdowns Singapore to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Breakdowns Singapore in the sector have low bargaining power. Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Breakdowns Singapore to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Breakdowns Singapore 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
– Breakdowns Singapore has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Breakdowns Singapore to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Breakdowns Singapore is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track 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
- Breakdowns Singapore 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 Breakdowns Singapore is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track, is just above the industry average. Breakdowns Singapore 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track 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 Breakdowns Singapore 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Breakdowns Singapore 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 - Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track 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 Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track, it seems that the employees of Breakdowns Singapore 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Breakdowns Singapore is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track 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 Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track HBR case study mentions - Breakdowns Singapore takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Vivien K.G. Lim, Nikodemus Jaya suggests that, Breakdowns Singapore 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Breakdowns Singapore 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track 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 Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Breakdowns Singapore is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Breakdowns Singapore products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Breakdowns Singapore needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Breakdowns Singapore 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.
Opportunities Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track | 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 Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Breakdowns Singapore can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Breakdowns Singapore operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.
Manufacturing automation
– Breakdowns Singapore 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. Breakdowns Singapore can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Breakdowns Singapore in the consumer business. Now Breakdowns Singapore can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Breakdowns Singapore 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Breakdowns Singapore 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.
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. Breakdowns Singapore 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. Breakdowns Singapore 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Breakdowns Singapore can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Breakdowns Singapore 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, Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Breakdowns Singapore 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Breakdowns Singapore 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Breakdowns Singapore has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Breakdowns Singapore to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track case study. Breakdowns Singapore can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Breakdowns Singapore 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 Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track are -
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 Breakdowns Singapore in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Breakdowns Singapore 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Breakdowns Singapore 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.
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 Breakdowns Singapore.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track, Breakdowns Singapore 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 .
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. Breakdowns Singapore needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Breakdowns Singapore is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Breakdowns Singapore 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. Breakdowns Singapore can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Breakdowns Singapore with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Breakdowns Singapore 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.
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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Breakdowns Singapore has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Breakdowns Singapore 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track 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 Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track 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 Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track 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 Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track 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 Singapore Mass Rapid Transit: Going Off Track 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 Breakdowns Singapore needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
