Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption
Jeffrey Sonnenfeld was a professor at Emory University's Goizueta Business School. He was a "star" at Emory and was extremely popular with the students. He was also extremely successful at raising funds for Emory's Center for Leadership and Career Studies. He had close relationships with some of the most powerful CEOs and business leaders in the country who regularly attended the center for conferences that he led. It was common knowledge that Sonnenfeld had conflicts with the dean of the business school and the dean of the entire university. Sonnenfeld was caught on video camera jumping up and down the business school hallways and potentially scraping the walls. The university fired him and interfered with his outstanding offer to head up Georgia Tech's business school. Sonnenfeld's reputation was ruined and he was out of his current job. Furthermore, his career was potentially ruined.
Authors :: Jeffrey Pfeffer, Kimberly D Elsbach, Victoria Chang
Swot Analysis of "Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption" written by Jeffrey Pfeffer, Kimberly D Elsbach, Victoria Chang includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sonnenfeld Ruined facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Government, Human resource management, Influence, Organizational culture and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices,
there is backlash against globalization, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sonnenfeld Ruined, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sonnenfeld Ruined 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 Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sonnenfeld Ruined
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 Sonnenfeld Ruined
Strengths Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sonnenfeld Ruined in Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Sonnenfeld Ruined 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 Jeffrey Pfeffer, Kimberly D Elsbach, Victoria Chang 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.
High brand equity
– Sonnenfeld Ruined has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Sonnenfeld Ruined to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Sonnenfeld Ruined is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sonnenfeld Ruined in the sector have low bargaining power. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sonnenfeld Ruined to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Sonnenfeld Ruined
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Sonnenfeld Ruined does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Sonnenfeld Ruined has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Sonnenfeld Ruined is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sonnenfeld Ruined digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sonnenfeld Ruined has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Diverse revenue streams
– Sonnenfeld Ruined is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Sonnenfeld Ruined 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 Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Sonnenfeld Ruined in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Sonnenfeld Ruined 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.
Weaknesses Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jeffrey Pfeffer, Kimberly D Elsbach, Victoria Chang suggests that, Sonnenfeld Ruined 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Sonnenfeld Ruined 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption 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 Sonnenfeld Ruined 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption 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 Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Sonnenfeld Ruined is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Sonnenfeld Ruined 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 - Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Sonnenfeld Ruined is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Sonnenfeld Ruined needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sonnenfeld Ruined 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. Sonnenfeld Ruined 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Sonnenfeld Ruined 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption HBR case study mentions - Sonnenfeld Ruined 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 Sonnenfeld Ruined products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Sonnenfeld Ruined needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption | 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 Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption are -
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 Sonnenfeld Ruined in the consumer business. Now Sonnenfeld Ruined can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Sonnenfeld Ruined 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. Sonnenfeld Ruined 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sonnenfeld Ruined can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sonnenfeld Ruined 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sonnenfeld Ruined has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sonnenfeld Ruined to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Sonnenfeld Ruined has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Sonnenfeld Ruined to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption case study. Sonnenfeld Ruined can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Sonnenfeld Ruined 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 Sonnenfeld Ruined 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Sonnenfeld Ruined to increase its market reach. Sonnenfeld Ruined 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Sonnenfeld Ruined is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Sonnenfeld Ruined can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Buying journey improvements
– Sonnenfeld Ruined can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sonnenfeld Ruined can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Threats Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption 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 Sonnenfeld Ruined in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sonnenfeld Ruined is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sonnenfeld Ruined can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption, Sonnenfeld Ruined 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. Sonnenfeld Ruined 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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Sonnenfeld Ruined 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. Sonnenfeld Ruined can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Sonnenfeld Ruined.
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. Sonnenfeld Ruined can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sonnenfeld Ruined has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sonnenfeld Ruined needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Organizational Development 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.
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 Sonnenfeld Ruined business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Sonnenfeld Ruined 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Sonnenfeld Ruined 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption 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 Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption 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 Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption 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 Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption 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 Jeffrey Sonnenfeld (B): The Road to Redemption 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 Sonnenfeld Ruined needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.