Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B)
Describes the compromise worked out between Xerox and the black caucus groups. The implications of this arrangement for Xerox and black employees over the next 16 years is also described.
Swot Analysis of "Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B)" written by Raymond A. Friedman, Caitlin Deinard includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Xerox Caucus facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Conflict, Diversity, Motivating people, Negotiations, Personnel policies and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
wage bills are increasing, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Xerox Caucus, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Xerox Caucus 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 Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Xerox Caucus
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 Xerox Caucus
Strengths Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Xerox Caucus in Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Xerox Caucus has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Xerox Caucus to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Xerox Caucus is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Xerox Caucus digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Xerox Caucus 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Xerox Caucus has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Xerox Caucus 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Xerox Caucus is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Xerox Caucus in the sector have low bargaining power. Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Xerox Caucus to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Xerox Caucus 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Xerox Caucus to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Xerox Caucus to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Xerox Caucus 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 Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Xerox Caucus 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 Xerox Caucus is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Xerox Caucus 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 Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) - 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 recruit top talent
– Xerox Caucus is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) are -
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Xerox Caucus 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Xerox Caucus is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) that the firm needs to have more collaboration between its sales team and marketing team. Sales professionals in the industry have deep experience in developing customer relationships. Marketing department in the case Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Xerox Caucus is planning to shift buying processes online.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Xerox Caucus is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Xerox Caucus needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Xerox Caucus to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B), in the dynamic environment Xerox Caucus has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Xerox Caucus 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, Xerox Caucus 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B), is just above the industry average. Xerox Caucus 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B), it seems that the employees of Xerox Caucus don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Xerox Caucus 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 - Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) 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 Xerox Caucus 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Xerox Caucus products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Xerox Caucus needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) | 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 Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) are -
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. Xerox Caucus can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Xerox Caucus 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, Xerox Caucus 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Xerox Caucus 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.
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. Xerox Caucus 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. Xerox Caucus 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Xerox Caucus 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, Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Xerox Caucus 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 Xerox Caucus 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Xerox Caucus is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Xerox Caucus has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Xerox Caucus to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) case study. Xerox Caucus can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Xerox Caucus 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Xerox Caucus 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Xerox Caucus can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) 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.
Threats Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Xerox Caucus 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.
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.
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 Xerox Caucus in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Xerox Caucus 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 Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B), Xerox Caucus 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 .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Xerox Caucus 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.
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.
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 Xerox Caucus.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Xerox Caucus with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Xerox Caucus has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Xerox Caucus 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.
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. Xerox Caucus 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, Xerox Caucus 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 Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Xerox Caucus 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) 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 Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) 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 Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) 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 Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) 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 Black Caucus Groups at Xerox Corp. (B) 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 Xerox Caucus needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
