SWOT for Joe Gibbs Race Team

In the beginning of all communications plans, much internal and external research needs to be done. One idea that is common (in some form) in advertising, marketing and public relations is a type of analysis, often called a SWOT analysis.

These analyses look at strengths and weaknesses of the organization, which are internal. The organization has more strategic control over these two factors.

They also look at two external factors, opportunities and threats, which are external. The organization does not have much control over these two factors.

STRENGTHS

• Experienced personnel
• Now that Joey Logano is no longer a rookie, all three JGR drivers in the Sprint Cup Series have experience and are ready to take serious strides forward in order to be top contenders for the cup.
• Team members are also experienced

• Winning records
• Denny Hamlin has 8 career wins, Kyle Busch has 16 career wins, and Joey Logano already has 1 career win from New Hampshire last year.
  
• High awareness of teams
• Most fans have heard of all 3 drivers, as well as JGR as a whole.
  

WEAKNESSES

• Busy schedule
• With three different drivers both racing and owning other teams, and different series running simultaneously, it can be a lot to keep up with!
• Luckily for Joe Gibbs and his team, they are all very dedicated and would not have their schedules any other way

OPPORTUNITIES

• Much opportunity for media attention
  
• JGR is constantly making headlines! With 3 talented drivers, they receive much media attention.
  
• Media attention is important for fans because it helps to keep their loyalty if they are constantly reminded of their favorite team or driver(s).
  

THREATS

• NASCAR's Rules
• Although it is mostly out of each race team's control, every time the rules change, it affects them. Teams need to anticipate changes and be prepare to adapt to them.
  
• Recession
• In times of economic recession, it is more difficult for fans to spend money on race tickets and merchandise. Also, sponsors may not have as much to give.
  

While in the pits, let's think about strategic control...

According to Chapter 6 of our book, strategic control can lead to the prevention of crises, as well as soften their impact should they occur. One thing that managers can do to drive and direct strategic control is to identify certain factors. It is important to recognize "internal factors that can serve as effective measures for the success or failure of a strategy, as well as outside factors that could trigger responses from the organization" (Crandell 120). It is important to assess the firm's missions and goals and see how these determinants line up with them.

So first, it would be necessary to acknowledge the overall mission of Joe Gibbs Racing Team. The mission for JGR, like most racing teams, is to win! However, also included in the mission would be the safety of both drivers and teams, a good reputation, and the furthering of the NASCAR mission and sport in general.

Now it's on to some influencing factors. Internally, what factors can determine the success or failure of the organization? If the strategy is to be a competitive racing team, one factor could be the talent of the drivers. If JGR wants to be sucessful overall, then Hamlin, Busch and Logano all need to be successful individually.

Another influencing factor can be the amount of sponsors that the team has. More sponsors mean more money, which means more strategic control in the long run. So, the strategy will be to have enough sponsors to race effectively. The measure of success will be how many sponsors that the team can obtain and then retain.

CMPS & CMTS in NASCAR

Chapter 5 in Crisis Management in the New Strategy Landscape emphasizes the important of having both a crisis management team (CMT) and a crisis management plan (CMP) in place. The CMT members have the duty of thinking of all possible threats that the organization could potentially face. The CMP is a document that lists the guidelines that the organization will follow should a crisis occur.

I have already mentioned some potential crises for Joe Gibbs Racing (JGR), which range from crises on the track to crises with different members of the race team. According to our book, “A crisis is more than just an event; it is an attack on a specific stakeholder or institution, whether inside or outside an organization” (Crandall 92). Stakeholders for race teams include internal personnel, such as owners, drivers, mechanics, crew chief and crew, spotters, and all others that work for the team. External stakeholders might include fans, NASCAR officials, and sponsors.

A possible “attack on a specific stakeholder” might be an accusation of cheating from another team or an official. This has happened before. For example, Robby Gordon, (Owner and Driver in Sprint Cup) was accused of cheating in 2009 in the Baja 250 in Mexico. Owners, drivers and mechanics, along with the crew chief should be on a crisis management team for crises of this type.

Possible steps to outline in the crisis management plan might be detailed accounts of what has been done to the cars and to the motors. Purchase records should be kept carefully and a complete and constantly updated list of parts and brands used should be readily available, should it be requested. Steps should also be outlined to keep the reputation of the team positive once the crisis is over. Rumors can damage reputations and it is important to keep the organization in a positive light.

Another relevant issue brought up in the book is that of ensuring the crisis plan is kept up-to-date. To do this, JGR needs to make sure that they are always aware of changes in rules and regulations and that their cars meet the necessary specifications. Also, they need to constantly scan the environment to see if other teams are having problems or if there are controversies concerning the parts that others are using. If awareness levels are high and all JGR cars are constantly being checked over, a crisis of this type will be very preventable.

Environmental Scanning...On & Off the Track

As the Daytona 500 and the true start of the racing season grow closer, Joe Gibbs Team Racing has much to do. In addition to all of the preparation for racing and discussions with sponsors and team members, it is necessary to prepare for potential problems in the future.

According to our class textbook, environmental scanning is a technique used by many organizations to help prepare for or prevent crises caused by external sources. According to the authors of the book, "A systematic environmental scanning process reduces uncertainty and organizes the flow of current information relevant to organizational decisions" (Crandell 71).

Environmental scanning for Joe Gibbs Team Racing can include many potential situations. One recent regulatory situation was NASCAR's decision to allow bump-drafting on restrictor-plate tracks. Because of this rule, one could have foreseen more wrecks than usual for many reasons. For example, it's a new rule that needs to be tested. Also, bump-drafting is considered an aggressive move. From a crisis management perspective, it was necessary to plan for the possibility of more crashing, and prepare the back up car in the event that the regular car can't race.

This is a crisis that 7 NASCAR drivers are indeed facing now, because of this problem. Last Thursday night during practice, Hamlin got into the back of Martin's car, causing a wreck (see article for full story and interviews). Because of experimenting with this new rule, most of the drivers involved will be using their backup cars this weekend.

With continued environmental scanning, Joe Gibbs Team Racing, can prepare for the negative repercussions because of this crash. Already, negative blogs and comments on articles are appearing. They need to be proactive and show Hamlin in a positive light as much as possible. Although negative blogs do not directly affect the outcome of a race, they do affect a team's reputation.

Even NASCAR has its crises...

I recently read Chapter 3 of the textbook for our class, Crisis Management in the New Strategy Landscape by William Crandell, John Parnell, and John Spillan, along with the 2010 Season Preview (for NASCAR), powered by Racing Milestones. Chapter 3 deals with potential causes for an organization to have a crisis and mentions political/legal causes, economic causes, social causes and technological causes (Crandell 43). With the current economic recession and bailout plans, even NASCAR is feeling the pressure to cut back.

In an article by Deb Williams in the 2010 Season Preview, co-owner for the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates team, Felix Sabates was quoted saying, "If any own tells you they're not worried, they're lying because we're all worried to death" (2010 35).

Because of the bailouts in the automotive industry and bankruptcies, many team mergers and continued layoffs are occurring. In addition, NASCAR is restructuring many of its policies to help deal with troubled economic times. By racing certain brands, like Joe Gibbs using Toyotas for all three drivers, it adds to the marketing effort of that brand. Creating team brand loyalty has proved to benefit both the manufacturer and the team. However, there are rules and regulations. In the past, an automotive manufacturer would have to produce 500 of the cars it would be racing in the Sprint Cup series in order to use them, but this rule has been abolished (2010 37). This will help other brands, especially those outside of the United States like Toyota, to succeed.

Williams concluded her article by stating that "With America's restructured auto industries operating much leaner, the same can be expected of NASCAR teams in 2010" (2010 37).

So, what does this mean for the Joe Gibbs Racing Team and NASCAR in general? The source of this crisis is one from economic forces. The textbook suggests two steps for dealing with economic crises like this, although they will be easier to accomplish in some situations and much more difficult in others. Step 1 would be to realize what caused the crisis and see if it can be learned from and Step 2 is to take action quickly to minimize the intensity of the situation (Crandell 48). As stated in the text, these steps call for " difficult decisions in uncertain times" (Crandell 48).

From what the preview of the upcoming season has shown us, the Joe Gibbs Team seems to be in good shape. Other teams have had to stop racing one or more cars because of a lack of sponsorship. However, Joey Logano has Home Depot, Denny Hamlin has FedEx, and Kyle Busch has M&M's. A possible PR recommendation, from what we learned in class and through the text, would be to ensure that there are back-up plans in place, should the unfortunate situation of losing a sponsor arise in the future.

Senior Seminar, Meet NASCAR!

In this blog, I will be focusing on the Joe Gibbs Racing NASCAR Team (JGRT). The team is comprised of the owner, Joe Gibbs, and drivers Denny Hamlin, Joey Logano, and Kyle Busch.

I will try to apply the information I learn from the textbook and in-class discussion to developing crisis communication strategies for Joe Gibbs Racing NASCAR Team . For example, Professor Laskin explained that crisis can be caused by an outside or inside error (deliberate or not). JGRT, for example, can potentially face crises from such inside causes as race team members switching to another owner, wrecking cars or blowing engines during practice or racing, or injuries to the drivers or team owner. External cases could be issues like other drivers accusing the team of doing something wrong with the mechanics of the car(s), NASCAR changing the rules and indirectly hurting the popularity of the sport, or NASCAR changing the team rules to prevent a smooth flow of operation for the team. Other competitors can always be considered an outside threat, too!

A recent example of an internal crisis was Denny Hamlin tearing his ACL last week while playing basketball. Thankfully, he will put off surgery until after the season and is planning on running a normal season. However, since he is getting championship nods for this year, it could have been catastrophic if he couldn't race! A post-injury interview shows that the incident actually motivated him instead

Another internal problem could be if Kyle Busch wants to run a full Nationwide Series schedule on top of the Sprint Cup schedule, which is what he races for JGRT. Doing both could be too much. Adding a full season instead of a limited season increases time away from the #18 car, as he would be doing more races outside of it.

An external problem could be NASCAR changing rules again. Many were critical of the "Lucky Dog" rule that came out 7 years ago and still debate if it should still be in effect. Anything that directly or indirectly decreases the popularity of NASCAR could be a potential problem for any team that races today.

Disclaimer

This is a student's blog for Crisis Communication class at Quinnipiac University. As such, I as the author of this blog make no representations as to accuracy, completeness, currentness, suitability, or validity of any information on this site and will not be liable for any errors, omissions, or delays in this information or any losses, injuries, or damages arising from its display or use. All information is provided on an as-is basis. Opinions expressed on this blog are Christine Gertsch's personal opinions and do not represent opinion of the Quinnipiac University or opinion of the instructor of the class.