Case Study Description of Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture
Charles "Ed" Haldeman Jr. is promoted CEO of Putnam Investments after the firm was badly damaged by a series of improper trading practices. He is charged with the task of managing the crisis, repairing the company culture, and putting the firm back into a pattern of growth. Haldeman realizes that nothing less than a radical change in the culture of Putnam Investments would be enough to win back the trust of clients and employees who felt betrayed by the firm's apparent misconduct. He must confront some tough decisions about recently uncovered questions concerning the handling of certain accounting transactions three years earlier and about the continued lagging performance of Voyager, the firm's flagship equity fund.
Swot Analysis of "Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture" written by Nitin Nohria, Charles A. Nichols includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Putnam Haldeman facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competition, Crisis management, Ethics, Growth strategy, Social responsibility and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing commodity prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Putnam Haldeman, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Putnam Haldeman 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 Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Putnam Haldeman
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 Putnam Haldeman
Strengths Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Putnam Haldeman in Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Putnam Haldeman is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Putnam Haldeman 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.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Putnam Haldeman 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 Putnam Haldeman in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Putnam Haldeman is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Putnam Haldeman
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Putnam Haldeman does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Putnam Haldeman has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Analytics focus
– Putnam Haldeman 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 Nitin Nohria, Charles A. Nichols 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Putnam Haldeman to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Putnam Haldeman to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Putnam Haldeman has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Putnam Haldeman 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.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Putnam Haldeman digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Putnam Haldeman has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Putnam Haldeman in the sector have low bargaining power. Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Putnam Haldeman to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture 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.
Weaknesses Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture HBR case study mentions - Putnam Haldeman 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.
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 Putnam Haldeman supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Putnam Haldeman vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Putnam Haldeman products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Putnam Haldeman needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Putnam Haldeman is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Putnam Haldeman needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Putnam Haldeman to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture 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 Putnam Haldeman has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture, in the dynamic environment Putnam Haldeman has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Putnam Haldeman has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Putnam Haldeman 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Putnam Haldeman is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Putnam Haldeman, firm in the HBR case study Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture 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 Putnam Haldeman 's lucrative customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Nitin Nohria, Charles A. Nichols suggests that, Putnam Haldeman 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.
Opportunities Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture | 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 Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Putnam Haldeman can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Putnam Haldeman 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.
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. Putnam Haldeman can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Putnam Haldeman 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Putnam Haldeman 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Putnam Haldeman is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Putnam Haldeman 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.
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. Putnam Haldeman can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Putnam Haldeman can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Putnam Haldeman operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Putnam Haldeman has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Putnam Haldeman to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture case study. Putnam Haldeman can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Putnam Haldeman 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 Putnam Haldeman to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Putnam Haldeman 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 Putnam Haldeman 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.
Threats Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture are -
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. Putnam Haldeman needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Putnam Haldeman.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Putnam Haldeman has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Putnam Haldeman 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.
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. Putnam Haldeman 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 Putnam Haldeman in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Putnam Haldeman 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture, Putnam Haldeman 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 Putnam Haldeman business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Putnam Haldeman with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Putnam Haldeman 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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Putnam Haldeman needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Organizational Development industry regulations.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture 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 Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture 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 Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture 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 Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture 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 Putnam Investments: Rebuilding the Culture 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 Putnam Haldeman needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
