Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version
It was October 2013, and global law firm Clifford Chance was coming under fire for the second time in less than a year for reputedly failing to provide a supportive work environment for its female associates. A memo entitled "Speaking Effectively" was just issued to the U.S. offices of the firm and immediately sparked controversy, as some female associates claimed that the gender-specific advice in the memo was condescending and sexist. This controversy came close on the heels of a memo released in November 2012, in which a third-year associate gave her resignation and explained why she was leaving the firm by detailing her unsustainable schedule as both a corporate lawyer and a mother to young children. Both memos were leaked on the internet, prompting bloggers, media outlets, and the public to chime in with their own opinions as to whether the firm was sexist. How should Clifford Chance have responded to these allegations? Was the firm sexist, or were things being taken out of context and blown out of proportion? If the firm determined that it needed to take heed and create a more inclusive culture that better met the needs of its female associates, where should it begin? Finally, how were the lessons learned in this case applicable to corporate America in 2014, where only 5.2% of Fortune 500 CEOs and 16.9% of board members in the United States were women?
Authors :: Boris Groysberg, Katherine Connolly, Stephanie Marton
Swot Analysis of "Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version" written by Boris Groysberg, Katherine Connolly, Stephanie Marton includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sexist Clifford facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Conflict, Employee retention, Gender, Labor, Organizational culture, Public relations, Regulation, Work-life balance and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sexist Clifford, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sexist Clifford 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 Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sexist Clifford
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 Sexist Clifford
Strengths Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sexist Clifford in Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sexist Clifford in the sector have low bargaining power. Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sexist Clifford to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Sexist Clifford 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 Boris Groysberg, Katherine Connolly, Stephanie Marton 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
– Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sexist Clifford to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sexist Clifford to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Sexist Clifford has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version 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.
Organizational Resilience of Sexist Clifford
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Sexist Clifford does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Sexist Clifford 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 Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Sexist Clifford 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 Sexist Clifford in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Sexist Clifford 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.
Learning organization
- Sexist Clifford 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 Sexist Clifford is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Sexist Clifford has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Sexist Clifford to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Sexist Clifford is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Clifford Chance: Women at Work, 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Sexist Clifford is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Clifford Chance: Women at Work, 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Boris Groysberg, Katherine Connolly, Stephanie Marton suggests that, Sexist Clifford 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.
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 Sexist Clifford supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Sexist Clifford vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Sexist Clifford 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Sexist Clifford 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 - Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Clifford Chance: Women at Work, 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 Sexist Clifford has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Need for greater diversity
– Sexist Clifford 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version, is just above the industry average. Sexist Clifford 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Sexist Clifford 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Sexist Clifford is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version, in the dynamic environment Sexist Clifford has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Sexist Clifford has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities Clifford Chance: Women at Work, 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 Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Sexist Clifford has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Sexist Clifford to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version case study. Sexist Clifford can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sexist Clifford 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Sexist Clifford is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sexist Clifford can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sexist Clifford operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Sexist Clifford 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Sexist Clifford 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.
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 Sexist Clifford in the consumer business. Now Sexist Clifford can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Sexist Clifford 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. Sexist Clifford 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 Sexist Clifford 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sexist Clifford has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sexist Clifford to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Sexist Clifford 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 Sexist Clifford to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Sexist Clifford can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Clifford Chance: Women at Work, 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Sexist Clifford 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.
Threats Clifford Chance: Women at Work, 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 Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version are -
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.
Environmental challenges
– Sexist Clifford 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. Sexist Clifford can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sexist Clifford can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Sexist Clifford with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Sexist Clifford
– 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 Sexist Clifford.
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 Sexist Clifford.
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. Sexist Clifford 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Sexist Clifford 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. Sexist Clifford needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Clifford Chance: Women at Work, Spanish Version, Sexist Clifford 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 .
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. Sexist Clifford can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Sexist Clifford has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sexist Clifford 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 Clifford Chance: Women at Work, 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 Clifford Chance: Women at Work, 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 Clifford Chance: Women at Work, 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 Clifford Chance: Women at Work, 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 Clifford Chance: Women at Work, 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 Sexist Clifford needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
