Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink
In September 2000 Mannai Corporation, one of the oldest and largest private enterprises in Qatar, was facing ruin. A combination of events had led to the company reaching its substantial bank borrowing limits and it was in grave danger of being unable to meet the wages bill for its 4,000 employees. The Mannai Corporation had grown to become the biggest privately owned trading house in Qatar. Mr Ahmed Mannai, a prominent member of the Qatar establishment, had created from nothing a highly successful conglomerate with activities ranging from automobile sales and service through construction and into oil related marine activities. As recently as 1998, Mannai had hit the headlines when it became the subject of the first management buyout in the Gulf region. Ahmed Mannai had bought out his two partners with a small consortium of Gulf banks providing the $110 million bridging loan. Subsequently caught out by the slump in oil prices to less that $10 a barrel at the end of 1998 and the resultant slow down of activity in that sector and a general malaise in the local economy, the Mannai Corporation had run into serious financial problems. With interest obligations now approaching $1 million a month, Mannai had been brought to its knees. The year was supposed to be one of celebration for Mannai, marking 50 years of successful trading and expansion, not just in Qatar but throughout the Gulf region and beyond. Instead, its very existence was threatened. The company was facing a stark choice: to liquidate or somehow contrive a means of survival. If it were to be the latter, what would be the priorities and how would they be tackled?
Swot Analysis of "Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink" written by Stewart Hamilton, Sarah Hutton includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Mannai Qatar facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Reorganization and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, technology disruption, wage bills are increasing,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Mannai Qatar, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Mannai Qatar 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 Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Mannai Qatar
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 Mannai Qatar
Strengths Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Mannai Qatar in Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Mannai Qatar is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Mannai Qatar in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Mannai Qatar to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Mannai Qatar to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Mannai Qatar is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Mannai Qatar 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Mannai Qatar 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 Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High brand equity
– Mannai Qatar has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Mannai Qatar to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Mannai Qatar 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 Stewart Hamilton, Sarah Hutton 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
– Mannai Qatar has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Mannai Qatar 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Mannai Qatar in the sector have low bargaining power. Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Mannai Qatar to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Mannai Qatar is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Learning organization
- Mannai Qatar 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 Mannai Qatar is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Mannai Qatar is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Mannai Qatar products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Mannai Qatar needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Mannai Qatar is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Organizational Development strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Mannai Qatar 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Mannai Qatar 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 - Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink, in the dynamic environment Mannai Qatar has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Mannai Qatar has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Need for greater diversity
– Mannai Qatar 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Mannai Qatar 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Mannai Qatar 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink, it seems that the employees of Mannai Qatar 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink 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 Mannai Qatar 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink | 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 Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink are -
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Mannai Qatar can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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. Mannai Qatar 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. Mannai Qatar 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Mannai Qatar 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 Mannai Qatar to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Mannai Qatar 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Mannai Qatar can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Mannai Qatar operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Mannai Qatar in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Organizational Development segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
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. Mannai Qatar 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 Mannai Qatar has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Mannai Qatar to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink case study. Mannai Qatar can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Mannai Qatar has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Mannai Qatar 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 Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Mannai Qatar to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Mannai Qatar can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Mannai Qatar 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, Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Mannai Qatar in the consumer business. Now Mannai Qatar can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink are -
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink, Mannai Qatar 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 .
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 Mannai Qatar business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
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. Mannai Qatar needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Mannai Qatar 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Mannai Qatar has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Mannai Qatar 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Mannai Qatar is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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 Mannai Qatar in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Mannai Qatar 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Mannai Qatar with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Mannai Qatar 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.
Increasing wage structure of Mannai Qatar
– 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 Mannai Qatar.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink 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 Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink 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 Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink 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 Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink 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 Mannai Corporation (A): On the Brink 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 Mannai Qatar needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
