Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story
Why did Boeing's engineers and technicians strike for 40 days in early 2000? And what can other companies with large cadres of knowledge workers learn from the experience? The author contends that the morale of Boeing engineers was in a slump because management suddenly began emphasizing financial results rather than engineering excellence, and engineers felt their contributions were given short shrift. The indication is that top management failed to detect the decline in morale and made no preparation for weathering a strike; thus, it was caught by surprise when its knowledge workers walked out. The author examines the history and corporate culture of Boeing, changes in internal communications, and the motivational mindset of professional knowledge workers for clues as to the origins and development of conditions that led to the strike. It is suggested that, had Boeing been more sensitive to employee concerns, its new cost-cutting emphasis would have been far more readily accepted--perhaps even blessed--by all employees as the price for maintaining worldwide industry leadership.
Swot Analysis of "Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story" written by Woodruff Imberman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Boeing Strike facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Design, Human resource management, IT, Labor, Motivating people, Organizational culture and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings,
increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Boeing Strike, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Boeing Strike 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 Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Boeing Strike
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 Boeing Strike
Strengths Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Boeing Strike in Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Boeing Strike in the sector have low bargaining power. Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Boeing Strike to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Boeing Strike is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Boeing Strike is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Boeing Strike
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Boeing Strike does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Boeing Strike 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 Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Boeing Strike to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Boeing Strike to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Boeing Strike 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 Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story - 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 Boeing Strike in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Boeing Strike has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Boeing Strike 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.
Learning organization
- Boeing Strike 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 Boeing Strike is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Boeing Strike 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 Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Woodruff Imberman suggests that, Boeing Strike 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.
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 Boeing Strike supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Boeing Strike vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Boeing Strike 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 - Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story 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 Boeing Strike 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story 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 Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Boeing Strike is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Boeing Strike 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 Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story, it seems that the employees of Boeing Strike 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Boeing Strike is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Boeing Strike 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. Boeing Strike 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story, in the dynamic environment Boeing Strike has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Boeing Strike 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 Boeing Strike 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.
Opportunities Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story | 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 Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Boeing Strike 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Boeing Strike 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Boeing Strike can develop new processes and procedures in Organizational Development 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.
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. Boeing Strike 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. Boeing Strike 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Boeing Strike 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, Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Boeing Strike can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Boeing Strike operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Boeing Strike 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 Boeing Strike to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Boeing Strike 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.
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 Boeing Strike in the consumer business. Now Boeing Strike can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Boeing Strike can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Boeing Strike 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 Boeing Strike to increase its market reach. Boeing Strike 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Boeing Strike can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story are -
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. Boeing Strike can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Boeing Strike in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Boeing Strike with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Boeing Strike
– 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 Boeing Strike.
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 Boeing Strike.
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 Boeing Strike business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story, Boeing Strike 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 .
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Boeing Strike 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Boeing Strike 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.
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. Boeing Strike needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Boeing Strike 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Boeing Strike is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story 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 Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story 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 Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story 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 Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story 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 Why Engineers Strike: The Boeing Story 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 Boeing Strike needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
