Strategic Analysis of Sydney Symphony Orchestra: SWOT and Five Forces

This case study presents a comprehensive business strategy analysis of the Sydney Symphony Orchestra (SSO). It begins with a SWOT analysis, identifying the SSO's strengths, such as government and private funding and musical expertise, and weaknesses, including high input costs and challenges in attracting new audiences. Opportunities are explored, such as catering to new target segments and market development. Threats, like changing audience preferences and increasing input costs, are also discussed. The analysis then applies Porter's Five Forces to assess the bargaining power of buyers and suppliers, the threat of new entrants and substitutes, and competitive rivalry within the industry. The document provides a detailed examination of the SSO's strategic position within the classical music industry, offering insights into its challenges and potential for future success.

Running head: BUSINESS STRATEGY
Business strategy
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1BUSINESS STRATEGY
SWOT analysis of SSO
Strengths
The major strength for SSO is their ability in attracting the funding both from the
government and private players. This is due to the reason that SSO is one of the oldest classical
music forms in the country and is associated with the tradition of the region. Hence, the funding
from both the government and private players is helping SSO in terms of their long term
viability. The next element that can also be considered as their strength is the competency in
playing world class music (Colbert 2014). This refers to the fact that SSO is having the expertise
in terms of music quality, which is also a major competing factor for business viability. It is also
reported that SSO only hires the best musician available and having an effective hiring policy
that denotes the internal expertise and competency for them.
Weaknesses
One of the major weaknesses for SSO identified is the higher input cost. This is due to
the reason that the infrastructure required for classical music such as halls and the number of
music players is of high cost. This is causing loss for SSO because even the sold out shows are
also not being able to recover the input cost. The hiring of the best musicians in the concert is
also posing challenges for SSO due to the reason that they are demanding higher pay scale,
which further increasing the loss (Oakes and North 2013). SSO is also facing the lack of
attractive propositions to cater to the new generation musicians. This is due to the fact that older
generations are more acceptable towards the classical music, which is not the same in the case of
current sets of population. Thus, the donors are also getting reduced required for the survival.
Opportunities

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Catering to the new target segments and in new forms and with new infrastructure can
help SSO in tapping to higher level of opportunities. This is due to the reason that without the
traditional grandeur required for SSO, if the concert can be done, then the cost of inputs will be
less and profitability can be gained (Colbert and St-James 2014). In addition, opportunity can
also be gained by means playing the music in the region where thus type of music is not
common. Thus, market development strategy can be well effective in tapping higher
opportunities in the global market for SSO.
Threats
The major threat for SSO is the change in the taste and preference pattern of the
audiences due to the reason that in the current time, major section of the population is not getting
attracted towards the classical music. This is causing challenges in surviving in the market for
SSO (Scharff 2015). Another threat is the increase in the input cost. With time development,
costs of the input materials are increasing, which is also posing challenges in meeting the profit
margin of SSO.
Porter five forces analysis
Bargaining power of the buyers  Bargaining power of the buyers is low with the
reduction in their numbers
 Lack of innovation due to the less buyer demand
(Crawford et al. 2014)
 SSO is having the need for new innovation in creating
value propositions for the buyers
Bargaining power of the  Bargaining power of the suppliers is moderate because

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suppliers musicians are the key suppliers
 There are abundant supply of musicians and top class
musicians are limited (Gamble and Gilmore 2013)
 Price points of the suppliers will determine the profit
margin for SSO in the long term
 Suppliers pool should be increased to have the higher
supply of the talents
Threat of new entrants  Threat of new entrants is low due to the lack of
viability in this sector
 Entry barriers are there in the forms of high input cost
and music skills of the musicians
 The brand identity and equity of SSO is also high,
which cannot be matched by the new entrants
Threats of substitutes  Threats of substitutes is high in the forms of other
music styles such as rock and metal
 Current generation is more attracted towards these
substitutes
 Innovation is required for fending off the threat of
substitutes
Competitive rivalry  Competitive rivalry is low as less number of firms are
operating
 Declining customer base is also posing less rivalry for
the operating firms

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 However, rivalry is growing from other music forms,
which are more superior in the current time.

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Reference
Colbert, F., 2014. The arts sector: A marketing definition. Psychology & Marketing, 31(8),
pp.563-565.
Oakes, S. and North, A., 2013. Dance to the Music!: How Musical Genres in Advertisements
Can Sway Perceptions of Image. Journal of Advertising Research, 53(4), pp.411-416.
Colbert, F. and St‐James, Y., 2014. Research in arts marketing: evolution and future
directions. Psychology & Marketing, 31(8), pp.566-575.
Scharff, C., 2015. Blowing your own trumpet: Exploring the gendered dynamics of self‐
promotion in the classical music profession. The Sociological Review, 63, pp.97-112.
Crawford, G., Gosling, V., Bagnall, G. and Light, B., 2014. Is there an app for that? A case study
of the potentials and limitations of the participatory turn and networked publics for classical
music audience engagement. Information, Communication & Society, 17(9), pp.1072-1085.
Gamble, J. and Gilmore, A., 2013. A new era of consumer marketing? An application of co-
creational marketing in the music industry. European Journal of Marketing, 47(11/12), pp.1859-
1888.