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Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream


This case focuses on the necessity of developing a human resource strategy for downsizing Daktronics, Inc., a company that was founded in 1968 in Brookings, South Dakota as a small producer of scoreboards for collegiate wrestling matches. By 2009, the company was generating a half billion dollars in revenue annually by producing electronic scoreboards, programmable display systems, and large screen video displays using light emitting diode (LED) technology. The dream of the founder was to grow the company to a billion dollars in revenue. However, by the spring of 2010 the recession that the United States had been suffering since 2008 had now produced negative earnings for Daktronics. Carla Gatzke, VP of Human Resources, realized that she needed a strategy to further reduce personnel costs during the duration of the recession, yet respect company culture and its relationship with communities. The plan would also need to position the company strategically for continued growth.

Authors :: Marlene M Reed, Charles M Carson, Carol J Cumber

Topics :: Leadership & Managing People

Tags :: , SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream" written by Marlene M Reed, Charles M Carson, Carol J Cumber includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Daktronics Scoreboards facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Leadership & Managing People.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Daktronics Scoreboards, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Daktronics Scoreboards 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 Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Daktronics Scoreboards
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 Daktronics Scoreboards




Strengths Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Daktronics Scoreboards in Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream Harvard Business Review case study are -

Ability to recruit top talent

– Daktronics Scoreboards is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Analytics focus

– Daktronics Scoreboards 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 Marlene M Reed, Charles M Carson, Carol J Cumber 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.

Ability to lead change in Leadership & Managing People field

– Daktronics Scoreboards is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Daktronics Scoreboards in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.

Training and development

– Daktronics Scoreboards has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream 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.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Daktronics Scoreboards 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 Daktronics Scoreboards

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Daktronics Scoreboards does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

High brand equity

– Daktronics Scoreboards has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Daktronics Scoreboards to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Daktronics Scoreboards 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.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Daktronics Scoreboards has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Daktronics Scoreboards 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Daktronics Scoreboards 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 Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Daktronics Scoreboards 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 Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Diverse revenue streams

– Daktronics Scoreboards is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream 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.






Weaknesses Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream are -

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream, 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.

Ability to respond to the competition

– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream, in the dynamic environment Daktronics Scoreboards has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Daktronics Scoreboards has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream HBR case study mentions - Daktronics Scoreboards 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.

Compensation and incentives

– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream, is just above the industry average. Daktronics Scoreboards 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.

Need for greater diversity

– Daktronics Scoreboards 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.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Daktronics Scoreboards 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.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Daktronics Scoreboards is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Daktronics Scoreboards has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.

High cash cycle compare to competitors

Daktronics Scoreboards 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 operating costs

– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream 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 Daktronics Scoreboards 's lucrative customers.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream, it seems that the employees of Daktronics Scoreboards 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.




Opportunities Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream | 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 Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream are -

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Daktronics Scoreboards 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 Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Daktronics Scoreboards to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Daktronics Scoreboards 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Daktronics Scoreboards has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Daktronics Scoreboards to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream case study. Daktronics Scoreboards can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Buying journey improvements

– Daktronics Scoreboards can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Daktronics Scoreboards can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Daktronics Scoreboards operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Leadership & Managing People sector.

Reconfiguring business model

– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Daktronics Scoreboards to reconfigure its entire business model. For example it can used blockchain based technologies to reduce piracy of its products in the big markets such as China. Secondly it can use the popularity of e-commerce in various developing markets to build a Direct to Customer business model rather than the current Channel Heavy distribution network.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Daktronics Scoreboards 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.

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. Daktronics Scoreboards 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. Daktronics Scoreboards 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.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Daktronics Scoreboards 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.

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 Daktronics Scoreboards in the consumer business. Now Daktronics Scoreboards can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Daktronics Scoreboards 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.

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. Daktronics Scoreboards can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

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. Daktronics Scoreboards can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.




Threats Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream are -

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 Daktronics Scoreboards.

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 Daktronics Scoreboards in the Leadership & Managing People sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Daktronics Scoreboards 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 Daktronics Scoreboards 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Daktronics Scoreboards 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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Daktronics Scoreboards 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 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. Daktronics Scoreboards needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

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.

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.

Environmental challenges

– Daktronics Scoreboards 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. Daktronics Scoreboards can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.

Increasing wage structure of Daktronics Scoreboards

– 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 Daktronics Scoreboards.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Daktronics Scoreboards has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Daktronics Scoreboards 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.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Daktronics Scoreboards is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream 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 Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream 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 Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream 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 Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream 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 Daktronics (C): Downsizing a Billion Dollar Dream 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 Daktronics Scoreboards needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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