Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version

The Twenty-First Century Leaders Program was launched by a group of business leaders from the Presidential Forum of the Chamber of Commerce of Bogota. Ten business leaders and private schools agreed on a common objective: to improve the quality of education in Colombia. Today, 187 public and private schools have allied with 109 businesses in nine cities to strengthen schools as organizations and to benefit more than 100,000 children. The project helps schools to adopt better administrative practices and, since 2001, it has led national forums on the topics of quality in school administration to highlight the experience of schools that have experienced the greatest progress. Besides the topics related to quality, the project is also directed toward policy planning and implementation. Highlights the role played by Meals de Colombia, a frozen foods manufacturer and retailer that has led the program since its beginning.

Authors :: Diana M. Trujillo, Roberto Gutierrez

Topics :: Organizational Development

Tags :: Leadership, Organizational structure, Policy, Social enterprise, Social responsibility, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version" written by Diana M. Trujillo, Roberto Gutierrez includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Schools Leaders facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Organizational structure, Policy, Social enterprise, Social responsibility and Organizational Development.

Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc

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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version

SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Schools Leaders, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Schools Leaders 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.

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SWOT Objectives / Importance of SWOT Analysis and SWOT Matrix

SWOT analysis of Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Schools Leaders
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Organizational Development field.
4. Making a Organizational Development topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Schools Leaders

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Strengths Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Schools Leaders in Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study are -

Innovation driven organization

– Schools Leaders is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Highly skilled collaborators

– Schools Leaders 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 Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Organizational Resilience of Schools Leaders

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Schools Leaders does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Schools Leaders has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Schools Leaders 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.

Strong track record of project management

– Schools Leaders is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Superior customer experience

– The customer experience strategy of Schools Leaders in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.

Learning organization

- Schools Leaders 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 Schools Leaders is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Schools Leaders has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry

– Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Schools Leaders to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Schools Leaders to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Schools Leaders has innovation driven culture where significant part of the revenues are spent on the research and development activities. This has resulted in, as mentioned in case study Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Ability to recruit top talent

– Schools Leaders is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Schools Leaders 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.

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Weaknesses Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version are -

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version, it seems that the employees of Schools Leaders don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.

High dependence on existing supply chain

– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Schools Leaders supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Schools Leaders vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Schools Leaders is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Diana M. Trujillo, Roberto Gutierrez suggests that, Schools Leaders is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Schools Leaders 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 Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version 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 Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Schools Leaders is planning to shift buying processes online.

Need for greater diversity

– Schools Leaders has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.

Slow to strategic competitive environment developments

– As Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version HBR case study mentions - Schools Leaders takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.

Lack of clear differentiation of Schools Leaders products

– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Schools Leaders needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Schools Leaders has some of the most successful products in the industry, this business model has made each new product launch extremely critical for continuous financial growth of the organization. firm in the HBR case study - Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Schools Leaders has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.

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Opportunities Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version | 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 Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version are -

Building a culture of innovation

– managers at Schools Leaders 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 Organizational Development segment.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Schools Leaders 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.

Manufacturing automation

– Schools Leaders can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Organizational Development segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.

Low interest rates

– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Schools Leaders can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Schools Leaders can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Schools Leaders is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version 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.

Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19

– Consumer behavior has changed in the Organizational Development industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Schools Leaders 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. Schools Leaders 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.

Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions

– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Schools Leaders in the consumer business. Now Schools Leaders can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.

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. Schools Leaders can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Better consumer reach

– The expansion of the 5G network will help Schools Leaders to increase its market reach. Schools Leaders will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Schools Leaders can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Schools Leaders operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.

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 Schools Leaders 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Schools Leaders has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Schools Leaders to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version case study. Schools Leaders can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

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Threats Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version are -

New competition

– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Schools Leaders in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.

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 Schools Leaders business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

Easy access to finance

– Easy access to finance in Organizational Development field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Schools Leaders can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Schools Leaders 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Schools Leaders needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Organizational Development industry regulations.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Schools Leaders is facing in Organizational Development 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. Schools Leaders needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Environmental challenges

– Schools Leaders 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. Schools Leaders can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.

High dependence on third party suppliers

– Schools Leaders high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version, Schools Leaders may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .

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. Schools Leaders 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 Schools Leaders in the Organizational Development industry. The Organizational Development 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.

Aging population

– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.

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Weighted SWOT Analysis of Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version 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 Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version 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 Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version 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 Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version 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 Twenty-First Century Leaders, Spanish Version 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 Schools Leaders needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.

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