Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version
Focuses on the measurement and management of organizational knowledge as a strategic asset, and on the deployment of information technology, organizational structure, and processes in leveraging that asset.
Swot Analysis of "Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version" written by Christopher A. Bartlett, Takia Mahmood includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Afs Skandia facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Growth strategy, International business, IT, Joint ventures, Knowledge management, Organizational structure and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Afs Skandia, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Afs Skandia 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 Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Afs Skandia
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 Afs Skandia
Strengths Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Afs Skandia in Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study are -
Innovation driven organization
– Afs Skandia is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Afs Skandia 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 Christopher A. Bartlett, Takia Mahmood 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Afs Skandia is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Afs Skandia in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Afs Skandia 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 Afs Skandia in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Afs Skandia in the sector have low bargaining power. Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Afs Skandia to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Afs Skandia to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Afs Skandia to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Learning organization
- Afs Skandia 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 Afs Skandia is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Afs Skandia is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Afs Skandia 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Afs Skandia 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.
Weaknesses Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version 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 Afs Skandia has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Afs Skandia, firm in the HBR case study Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version, 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version HBR case study mentions - Afs Skandia 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Afs Skandia 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Afs Skandia 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 Afs Skandia 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 - Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version 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 Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version 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 Afs Skandia 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Afs Skandia 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Afs Skandia is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Afs Skandia needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Afs Skandia to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Afs Skandia is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version | External Strategic Factors
What are Opportunities in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The opportunities highlighted in the Harvard Business Review case study Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Afs Skandia 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 Afs Skandia to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Afs Skandia 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Afs Skandia 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Afs Skandia 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Afs Skandia 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.
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. Afs Skandia 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. Afs Skandia 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Afs Skandia 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 Afs Skandia has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Afs Skandia to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version case study. Afs Skandia can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Afs Skandia to increase its market reach. Afs Skandia 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.
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 Afs Skandia 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Afs Skandia can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Afs Skandia 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Afs Skandia 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, Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version 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 Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version, Afs Skandia 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. Afs Skandia 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.
Environmental challenges
– Afs Skandia 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. Afs Skandia 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 Afs Skandia.
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 Afs Skandia business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Afs Skandia 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Afs Skandia 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 Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version .
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. Afs Skandia can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Afs Skandia is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Afs Skandia needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Afs Skandia has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Afs Skandia 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Afs Skandia with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version Template, Example
Not all factors mentioned under the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants in the SWOT Analysis are equal. Managers in the HBR case study Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version needs to zero down on the relative importance of each factor mentioned in the Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities, and Threats quadrants.
We can provide the relative importance to each factor by assigning relative weights. Weighted SWOT analysis process is a three stage process –
First stage for doing weighted SWOT analysis of the case study Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version is to rank the strengths and weaknesses of the organization. This will help you to assess the most important strengths and weaknesses of the firm and which one of the strengths and weaknesses mentioned in the initial lists are marginal and can be left out.
Second stage for conducting weighted SWOT analysis of the Harvard case study Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version is to give probabilities to the external strategic factors thus better understanding the opportunities and threats arising out of macro environment changes and developments.
Third stage of constructing weighted SWOT analysis of Skandia AFS: Developing Intellectual Capital Globally, Spanish Version is to provide strategic recommendations includes – joining likelihood of external strategic factors such as opportunities and threats to the internal strategic factors – strengths and weaknesses. You should start with external factors as they will provide the direction of the overall industry. Secondly by joining probabilities with internal strategic factors can help the company not only strategic fit but also the most probably strategic trade-off that Afs Skandia needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.