Case Study Description of Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C)
Reveals the course of action that Xerox took after discovering that its Leadership Through Quality program had not met all expectations. Reinforces the message that change is an ongoing and continuous effort, and that companies never achieve all of their change goals.
Swot Analysis of "Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C)" written by Todd D. Jick includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Xerox Reinforces facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Product development and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing household debt because of falling income levels, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Xerox Reinforces, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Xerox Reinforces 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 Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Xerox Reinforces
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 Reinforces
Strengths Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Xerox Reinforces in Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Xerox Reinforces 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 Todd D. Jick 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Xerox Reinforces in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Xerox Reinforces
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Xerox Reinforces does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Xerox Reinforces digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Xerox Reinforces 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Xerox Reinforces 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 Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Diverse revenue streams
– Xerox Reinforces is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) 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 Reinforces in the sector have low bargaining power. Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Xerox Reinforces to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Xerox Reinforces has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Xerox Reinforces 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Xerox Reinforces 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Xerox Reinforces is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– Xerox Reinforces has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Xerox Reinforces to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Xerox Reinforces is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Xerox Reinforces products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Xerox Reinforces needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Xerox Reinforces is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Xerox Reinforces needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Xerox Reinforces to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Xerox Reinforces 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) 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 Xerox Reinforces has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) 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 Reinforces 's lucrative customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Xerox Reinforces 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C), it seems that the employees of Xerox Reinforces 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) HBR case study mentions - Xerox Reinforces takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C), 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Xerox Reinforces, firm in the HBR case study Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) | 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 Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Xerox Reinforces 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, Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Xerox Reinforces 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.
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 Xerox Reinforces in the consumer business. Now Xerox Reinforces can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Xerox Reinforces 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 Xerox Reinforces to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Xerox Reinforces 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.
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 Reinforces can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Xerox Reinforces 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.
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. Xerox Reinforces can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Xerox Reinforces is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Xerox Reinforces 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Xerox Reinforces 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 Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Xerox Reinforces to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Xerox Reinforces can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Xerox Reinforces has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Xerox Reinforces to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) case study. Xerox Reinforces can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) are -
Increasing wage structure of Xerox Reinforces
– 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 Xerox Reinforces.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Xerox Reinforces 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 Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) .
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 Reinforces.
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 Reinforces in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Xerox Reinforces can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Xerox Reinforces 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C), Xerox Reinforces 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 .
Regulatory challenges
– Xerox Reinforces needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Organizational Development industry regulations.
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.
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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Xerox Reinforces 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Xerox Reinforces is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Reinforces 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) 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 Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) 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 Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) 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 Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) 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 Xerox Corp.: Leadership Through Quality (C) 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 Reinforces needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
