Executive Summary for the Golden State Warriors
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Executive Summary for the Golden State Warriors Based on the comprehensive strategic analysis conducted for the Golden State Warriors, which utilized multiple analyses and frameworks, the most viable strategy for this franchise to pursue would be to continue working towards winning a championship. Winning a championship is a strategy that is dependent on the combing of multiple aspects of different strategies in order for it to be accomplished and while few teams are able to make it happen in the short term, the Golden State Warriors managed to do it in just five years. Teams can alternatively pursue individual strategies in hopes that if they become great at a single aspect, so that they may be able to bring themselves closer to achieving what all 30 teams within the National Basketball Association have their sights set on. In reality however it is the combination of various strategies that make winning a championship a possibility. The other strategies identified included the developing of players, maintaining or pursuing a winning culture, and creating roster cohesiveness and although each of these strategies possesses it’s own strengths, it is the utilization of them as a whole that provides the most benefits. The altered version of the VRIOS Analysis that was utilized proved to be the most useful analysis in determining the best strategy to pursue. Specifically it was the Resource Based View portion of this analysis where, in describing how a team would make winning a championship, it was realized that it is the combination of strategies that makes it a possibility. In describing the Golden State Warriors organization through the Valuable, Rare, Inimitable, Organization, and Sustainable analysis it was determined that no single strategy was strong enough to bring the benefits that winning a championship provides to an organization. A team’s cohesion, experience, attractiveness, and development means very little if those factors do not amount to a championship. The one thing that every single team in the association pursues in the long and short term is a ring but combining the right strategies to do so is a difficult challenge as only one team every year reaches the mountaintop. The Golden State Warrior’s five-year plan was fulfilled as they brought home a championship at the conclusion of it and while the other teams may be trying to reach that same peak, the Warriors just seem to be one step ahead of everyone else. 1 Industry Analysis: The National Basketball Association is an industry in which all thirty franchises compete towards the same goal, winning a championship. A team can pursue any number of strategies in order for them to reach this pinnacle, but at the end of a season, only one team will be named champion. While there are many factors that contribute towards a team’s ability to win a championship, there are four that are downright necessary for a team to pursue. These four critical success factors consist of the strength of a team’s roster, the cohesiveness of the players within that roster, the coaching staff, and the overall management of the organization. These four factors have been organized by weight in the Competitive Factors Framework below showcasing how the top five teams in the league stack up against one another. This Competitive Factors Framework serves as a tool for teams to identify how they compare to their closest rivals in terms of the factors they deem most important towards achieve their goal.i Competitive Factors Framework Weight External CSFs Firm Ratings Key Trends - Opportunities Warriors Cavaliers Thunder Raptors Spurs Ave 25% Strength of Roster 5 4.3 4 3.9 4.5 4.3 20% Cohesiveness of Roster 5 3 3.5 4 4.5 4.0 15% Coaching 4 3 3.5 4 4.5 3.8 10% Management 4.5 3.5 4 4 4.7 4.1 1 The Strength of a Team’s Roster is the most important, and thus the most heavily weighted factor at 25%. Without a well-balanced roster a team’s ability to succeed in the post season, let alone make the playoffs, dwindles. The Golden State Warriors and San Antonio Spurs scored a 5 and a 4.5 respectively due to their win percentages and the overall talent on their roster. Each of these teams finished the season as either the one, two, or three seed in their respective divisions and was projected to make a deep run into the playoffs. The Warriors not only finished as the number one seed in the Western Conference, but they also amassed the best regular season record in league history by winning 73 games and losing only 9. Finishing the regular as the number one seed is pivotal towards the winning of a championship because it ensures the facing of a less competitive first round playoff opponent. It is also worth noting that their best player, Stephen Curry was unanimously named Most Valuable Player in the league this year marking his winning of the award for the second consecutive season.ii The next highest factor is the Cohesiveness of Roster weighted at 20%. Team chemistry is incredibly important and the number of assists each team averages per game factored into the scoring of this metric. The warriors again scored a 5, as they are the team with the highest number of assists per game in the league at 30. The Spurs again come in second at 4.5 due to the longevity of their roster as they have experienced success with the same three core players for almost a decade in Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, & Manu Ginobli. The Warriors Score higher than the Spurs because of their ability to maintain roster 1 An Internal Factors Framework was not utilized due to the similarity of information 2 cohesiveness and level of play no matter which five players are out on the floor. When Stephen Curry was injured in game four of their first round playoff series against the Houston Rockets this season his team was still able to win their next four out five playoff games without their best player not being in the lineup.iii The next factor, Coaching, is weighted at 15% and is a strong determinant of how successful a team will be. The Spurs came in first in terms of this metric at 4.5 followed by the Warriors and Raptors both tied at 4. The coach’s overall win percentage as well as his teams’ current record was factored into deciding a team’s score. Greg Popovic of the Spurs has the second all time win percentage of coaches who have coached over 1500 games played. His team however finished as the second seed in the Western Conference, which contributed to him not receiving a perfect score of 5. Steve Kerr of the Warriors and Dwane Casey of the Raptors both scored 4s, Kerr because of the relatively few number of games coached and Casey because of his lack of success in the playoffs and the Raptors currently being in second place in the Eastern Conference. Steve Kerr now has two years worth of coaching experience under his belt and his team has finished as the number one seed in both seasons, winning a championship at the culmination of the first. At the end of this season his team finished with the best win to loss record in league history and this feat is a testament to his ability to coach and manage his players.iv Management was the least weighted factor at just10% and is measured by how well a team drafts, facilitates trades, and manages its players. The Spurs narrowly edge out the Warriors at 4.7 and 4.5 respectively in this category. The Warriors drafting of Klay Thompson, Stephen Curry, and Draymond Green, all of whom developed into All-Stars, occurred within a 5-year period and contributed to their high score. The Spurs on the other hand secured Lamarcus Aldridge, David West during their free agencies and signed Kawhi Leonard as well as the aforementioned players to contracts that were all considered below market value. The Warrior’s current management acquired the team in 2010 and implemented a 5-year plan with the end goal of winning a championship. They drafted the right players, made all of the necessary roster changes, and at the culmination of the 2014 – 2015 season they won a championship, right on schedule with their initial plan.v While all of these factors may be weighted differently, a team must perform exceptionally well in regards to each of them in order to win a championship. The weights assigned to them purely indicate how necessary they are towards achieving this goal. A roster’s cohesiveness will suffer if the players aren’t well rounded and highly skilled, a coach cannot implement his strategies without a capable and cohesive roster, and if the team does not perform well it reflects poorly on the organization’s management. It’s a domino effect that each team must navigate in order to reach the playoffs and ultimately the finals for a chance to bring home a championship. 3 Internal Analysis: Typically to conduct an Internal Analysis both a VRIOS Analysis and an Internal Factors Framework would be done to analyze an organization’s most important resources and capabilities. The Internal Factors Framework would conclude the VRIOS Analysis and lay out the most important Resources & Capabilities with weights attached to each of them. A slightly different direction was taken for the completion of this Internal Analysis in order to make it more applicable to the values and goals of a franchise within National Basketball Association.