Case Study Description of Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged)
To remain competitive, Sallie Krawcheck and Lisa Shalett, Sanford C. Bernstein's director of research and associate director of research, respectively were examining the need to expand the research department's size both domestically and internationally. Were they too late? Could they maintain their strong culture and hiring process--which top management viewed as a main source of competitive advantage--and also increase their research and sales efforts exponentially? How could they move quickly when traditionally it took them years to find "the right person" for any given role. A rewritten version of an earlier case.
Swot Analysis of "Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged)" written by Boris Groysberg, Anahita Hashemi includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sanford Research facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management, Growth strategy, Organizational culture, Talent management and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption, increasing commodity prices,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sanford Research, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sanford Research 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 Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sanford Research
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 Sanford Research
Strengths Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sanford Research in Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sanford Research has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sanford Research 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Sanford Research 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 Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Sanford Research has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) 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
– Sanford Research is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) 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.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sanford Research digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sanford Research 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.
Organizational Resilience of Sanford Research
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Sanford Research does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Sanford Research has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Sanford Research to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Sanford Research 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 Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Sanford Research 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 Sanford Research 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 Sanford Research in the sector have low bargaining power. Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sanford Research to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Sanford Research 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.
Learning organization
- Sanford Research 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 Sanford Research is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) are -
Need for greater diversity
– Sanford Research 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Sanford Research 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.
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 Sanford Research supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Sanford Research vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) 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 Sanford Research has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Lack of clear differentiation of Sanford Research products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Sanford Research needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Sanford Research is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Sanford Research 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged), is just above the industry average. Sanford Research 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Sanford Research is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Sanford Research needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Sanford Research to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Sanford Research 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. Sanford Research 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) 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 Sanford Research 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) | 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 Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Sanford Research can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Sanford Research 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Sanford Research 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.
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 Sanford Research 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.
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. Sanford Research can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Sanford Research to increase its market reach. Sanford Research 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Sanford Research has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Sanford Research to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) case study. Sanford Research can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sanford Research 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Sanford Research 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, Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Sanford Research 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sanford Research 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Sanford Research 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.
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 Sanford Research in the consumer business. Now Sanford Research can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sanford Research has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sanford Research 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.
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.
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. Sanford Research 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Sanford Research 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 Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Sanford Research 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.
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 Sanford Research business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged), Sanford Research 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 .
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 Sanford Research.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Sanford Research 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.
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. Sanford Research needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Sanford Research 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. Sanford Research can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Sanford Research 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) 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 Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) 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 Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) 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 Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) 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 Sanford C. Bernstein: Growing Pains (Abridged) 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 Sanford Research needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
