Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A)
Reviews Josie Esquivel's career history, detailing how, through her personal attributes, skills, experiences, and organizational practices she has developed into a star analyst. Should Esquivel accept an offer to leave Lehman Brothers for Morgan Stanley? To make this decision, Esquivel needs to reflect on what made her successful and to consider seriously what it would take to move her "franchise" to another company without compromising her performance as a star.
Swot Analysis of "Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A)" written by Boris Groysberg, Laura Morgan Roberts includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Esquivel Josie facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Emotional intelligence, Human resource management, Informal leadership, Leadership, Motivating people, Networking, Organizational culture and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Esquivel Josie, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Esquivel Josie 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 Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Esquivel Josie
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 Esquivel Josie
Strengths Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Esquivel Josie in Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Esquivel Josie 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 Esquivel Josie is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Esquivel Josie is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Esquivel Josie 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Esquivel Josie in the sector have low bargaining power. Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Esquivel Josie to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Esquivel Josie
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Esquivel Josie does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Esquivel Josie is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Esquivel Josie has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Esquivel Josie to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Esquivel Josie 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 Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Esquivel Josie 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Esquivel Josie 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 Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) - 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 Esquivel Josie in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Esquivel Josie 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Esquivel Josie 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 - Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Esquivel Josie has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Esquivel Josie 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. Esquivel Josie 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 Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A), in the dynamic environment Esquivel Josie has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Esquivel Josie has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A), 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Esquivel Josie, firm in the HBR case study Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Esquivel Josie is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Esquivel Josie needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Esquivel Josie to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) HBR case study mentions - Esquivel Josie 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 Esquivel Josie products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Esquivel Josie needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Esquivel Josie 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.
Opportunities Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) | 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 Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) are -
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Esquivel Josie 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Esquivel Josie to increase its market reach. Esquivel Josie 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Esquivel Josie 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, Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A), 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
– Esquivel Josie can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) 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.
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. Esquivel Josie can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Esquivel Josie 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Esquivel Josie 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Esquivel Josie 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Esquivel Josie has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Esquivel Josie to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) case study. Esquivel Josie can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Loyalty marketing
– Esquivel Josie 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Esquivel Josie 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 Esquivel Josie to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Esquivel Josie can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Esquivel Josie 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 Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Esquivel Josie to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Esquivel Josie is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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.
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 Esquivel Josie in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Esquivel Josie can face downward pressure on margins from increasing competition from international players. The international players have stable revenue in their home market and can use those resources to penetrate prominent markets illustrated in HBR case study Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Esquivel Josie 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Esquivel Josie 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 Esquivel Josie
– 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 Esquivel Josie.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Esquivel Josie 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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Esquivel Josie 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.
Environmental challenges
– Esquivel Josie 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. Esquivel Josie can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
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 Esquivel Josie business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Esquivel Josie 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) 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 Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) 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 Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) 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 Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) 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 Leading the Josie Esquivel Franchise (A) 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 Esquivel Josie needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.