The Case

Opportunities and threats fall out of this analysis of Sydney Symphony Orchestra:

Demographics: Sydney is a very large city with good income levels and indications of excellent education (5 universities)

The socio-cultural segment is difficult for classical music. It is an old-world type of music with old-world patterns of listening. The demographic and/or generation of people who prefers this music is dying out, and new recruits are needed. On the plus side, classical music has elite status in society and thus attracts a well-to-do audience

Technology is fast moving; there are many alternatives to live music and there are alternative ways to spread classical music

The politicallegal segment is good for the classical music group because they received the vast majority of government assistance given to the arts (around $55 million, compared to theatre at around $3 million)

Classical music is global in nature, as is the sourcing of musical labour

Physical not really significant in this industry

Economic the upper end of the society is reasonably steady in terms of income. The classical music industry is stable but there is little to offer in terms of revenue, making long term survival difficult. Substitutes include any other art, but particularly other music forms such as pop music and jazz that operate in the broad industry. New entrants are unlikely as entry barriers are high and the industry has a small profit pool.

Buyers a declining group, which is a major concern. In terms of suppliers, musicians are the key. There are numerous musicians and it is easy to obtain new staff, but difficult to get first class staff. There is little rivalry. In Sydney there is negligible symphony competition, but for recordings there are some great competitors which dont affect the basic operations of the SSO. Outside Sydney there are numerous competitors.

The tangibles are strong: access to the Opera house, good donor lists, solid financial reserves. Intangibles are excellent: terrific players, great conductor, good following in Sydney, good brand.

Core competencies include:

• Ability to play world class symphonic music
• Ability to raise private finance (65 per cent of total funding)
• excellent links with the city
• Ability to attract government funding
• Ability to record world class music on a variety of technology platforms
• Ability to attract fine soloists

In the Sydney context these are all core competencies. In the Australian and world contexts none of them are, since all major symphony orchestras possess them.

Required:

As a Management Consultant to Sydney Symphony Orchestra, you are expected to justify and recommend 5 key strategic initiatives to be implemented concurrently over the next five years, e.g. 2 exploit-type strategies, 1 conquer, 1 shine-up and 1 avoid.

Write a comprehensive memo to the CEO outlining how you have used each of the following models: PROFIT, VRIO, SWOT, and CIA.