Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Leadership & Managing People
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda
Describes efforts in Seattle Public Schools, under the leadership of Superintendent Joseph Olchefske, to replace the district's centralized budgeting process with school-level budgets. Olchefske's decentralization effort, referred to locally as the Freedom Agenda, allocated funding to schools on the basis of student enrollment and sought to give principals increased flexibility in managing resources, hiring staff, and designing education programs. The central aim of the Freedom Agenda was to equip principals and their leadership teams with the resources and authority they needed to implement educational programs tailored to individual student needs. Focuses significantly on the interaction of Olchefske's decentralization plan with the incentives and constraints that accompany public funding.
Swot Analysis of "Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda" written by Stig Leschly includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Olchefske's Freedom facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Entrepreneurship, Leadership and Leadership & Managing People.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Olchefske's Freedom, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Olchefske's Freedom 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 Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Olchefske's Freedom
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 Olchefske's Freedom
Strengths Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Olchefske's Freedom in Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Olchefske's Freedom has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Olchefske's Freedom 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 Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Leadership & Managing People industry
– Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Olchefske's Freedom to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Olchefske's Freedom to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Olchefske's Freedom in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Olchefske's Freedom 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Olchefske's Freedom is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Learning organization
- Olchefske's Freedom is a learning organization. It has inculcated three key characters of learning organization in its processes and operations – exploration, creativity, and expansiveness. The work place at Olchefske's Freedom is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Olchefske's Freedom in the sector have low bargaining power. Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Olchefske's Freedom to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Olchefske's Freedom is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Analytics focus
– Olchefske's Freedom 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 Stig Leschly 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Olchefske's Freedom has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Olchefske's Freedom 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.
Weaknesses Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Olchefske's Freedom has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Olchefske's Freedom even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Olchefske's Freedom has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda, in the dynamic environment Olchefske's Freedom has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Olchefske's Freedom has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Olchefske's Freedom 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Olchefske's Freedom is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Olchefske's Freedom is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda, is just above the industry average. Olchefske's Freedom 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Olchefske's Freedom has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Olchefske's Freedom, firm in the HBR case study Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda 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 Olchefske's Freedom 's lucrative customers.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Olchefske's Freedom is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Leadership & Managing People segment. Olchefske's Freedom needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Olchefske's Freedom to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Opportunities Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda | 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 Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda are -
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 Olchefske's Freedom 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.
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. Olchefske's Freedom can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Olchefske's Freedom can develop new processes and procedures in Leadership & Managing People industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Olchefske's Freedom is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Olchefske's Freedom 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Olchefske's Freedom 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Olchefske's Freedom can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Olchefske's Freedom can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Olchefske's Freedom to expand its talent hiring zone. According to McKinsey Global Institute, 20% of the high end workforce in fields such as finance, information technology, can continously work from remote local post Covid-19. This presents a really great opportunity for Olchefske's Freedom to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Olchefske's Freedom 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. Olchefske's Freedom 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.
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. Olchefske's Freedom can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Olchefske's Freedom has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Olchefske's Freedom to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda case study. Olchefske's Freedom can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Olchefske's Freedom 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.
Threats Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Olchefske's Freedom has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Leadership & Managing People industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Olchefske's Freedom 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.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Olchefske's Freedom will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Olchefske's Freedom 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 Olchefske's Freedom 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Olchefske's Freedom is facing in Leadership & Managing People sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Olchefske's Freedom needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Leadership & Managing People industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda, Olchefske's Freedom may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Leadership & Managing People .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Olchefske's Freedom with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Leadership & Managing People field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Olchefske's Freedom can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Olchefske's Freedom
– 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 Olchefske's Freedom.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Olchefske's Freedom business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Olchefske's Freedom 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. Olchefske's Freedom can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Leadership & Managing People industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda 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 Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda 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 Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda 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 Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda 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 Seattle Public Schools--1995-2002 (A): The Freedom Agenda 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 Olchefske's Freedom needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
