Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office
Over the past several years both the share of women receiving accounting degrees and the share of women entering public accounting have risen substantially. However, the number of women holding senior positions, such as partner, remains low. This case provides data on retention of females in a large metropolitan office of a public accounting firm, asks whether the lower retention rate (relative to male associates) is a business problem for the firm, and if so, asks what the managing partner should do about it.
Swot Analysis of "Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office" written by Gary W. Loveman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Women Accounting facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Employee retention, Gender, Personnel policies and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Women Accounting, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Women Accounting 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 Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Women Accounting
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 Women Accounting
Strengths Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Women Accounting in Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Women Accounting 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 Women Accounting is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Women Accounting 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 Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Women Accounting
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Women Accounting does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Women Accounting is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Women Accounting to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Women Accounting to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Women Accounting in the sector have low bargaining power. Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Women Accounting to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Women Accounting is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Training and development
– Women Accounting has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Women Accounting is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Women Accounting has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Women Accounting 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Women Accounting 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 Women Accounting 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 Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Women Accounting 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. Women Accounting 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Women Accounting 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office, is just above the industry average. Women Accounting needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Women Accounting, firm in the HBR case study Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Lack of clear differentiation of Women Accounting products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Women Accounting needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Women Accounting 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Women Accounting is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Women Accounting needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Women Accounting to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Women Accounting 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office 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 Women Accounting has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Women Accounting is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Gary W. Loveman suggests that, Women Accounting 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 Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office | 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 Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Women Accounting is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Women Accounting can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Women Accounting can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Women Accounting can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Women Accounting in the consumer business. Now Women Accounting can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Women Accounting 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
– Women Accounting 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. Women Accounting 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. Women Accounting can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Women Accounting 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 Women Accounting to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Women Accounting to increase its market reach. Women Accounting 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Women Accounting 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Women Accounting 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, Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Women Accounting can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office are -
Increasing wage structure of Women Accounting
– 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 Women Accounting.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Women Accounting with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Women Accounting.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office, Women Accounting 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 .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Women Accounting 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, Women Accounting 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 Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Women Accounting 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. Women Accounting needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Women Accounting 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.
Environmental challenges
– Women Accounting 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. Women Accounting can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
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. Women Accounting 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Women Accounting has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Women Accounting 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office 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 Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office 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 Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office 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 Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office 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 Accountants and Business Advisors, Inc.: City Office 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 Women Accounting needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.