SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry
The SAS Institute is a large, growing software company headquartered in the Research Triangle in North Carolina. Founded more than 25 years ago, it has evolved a unique approach, given its industry, to developing and retaining talent including using no stock options or phantom stock and not paying its salespeople on commission. The CEO and Vice President of Human Resources must decide how well their current management practices will continue to serve them as the company gains greater visibility and faces an increasingly competitive labor market.
Swot Analysis of "SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry" written by Jeffrey Pfeffer includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Sas Phantom facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Human resource management, Motivating people, Organizational culture, Technology and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices,
technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Sas Phantom, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Sas Phantom 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 SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Sas Phantom
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 Sas Phantom
Strengths SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Sas Phantom in SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Sas Phantom has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry 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.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Sas Phantom digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Sas Phantom 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Sas Phantom 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Sas Phantom 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 SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Sas Phantom in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Sas Phantom to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Sas Phantom to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Sas Phantom in the sector have low bargaining power. SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Sas Phantom to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Sas Phantom is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Sas Phantom has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Sas Phantom 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 Sas Phantom 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Sas Phantom is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry 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.
Weaknesses SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jeffrey Pfeffer suggests that, Sas Phantom 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry, 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Sas Phantom 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 SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry 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 Sas Phantom has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Sas Phantom 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Sas Phantom 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry, it seems that the employees of Sas Phantom 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Sas Phantom, firm in the HBR case study SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Sas Phantom 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Sas Phantom is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Sas Phantom needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Sas Phantom to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry HBR case study mentions - Sas Phantom 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.
Opportunities SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry | 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 SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Sas Phantom to increase its market reach. Sas Phantom will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Developing new processes and practices
– Sas Phantom 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Sas Phantom 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Sas Phantom 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.
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 Sas Phantom in the consumer business. Now Sas Phantom can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Sas Phantom can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Sas Phantom operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
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 Sas Phantom 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Sas Phantom 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Sas Phantom 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 SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Sas Phantom to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Sas Phantom can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Sas Phantom 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Sas Phantom 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, SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Sas Phantom is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry 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.
Threats SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry are -
Increasing wage structure of Sas Phantom
– 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 Sas Phantom.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Sas Phantom with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Capital market disruption
– During the Covid-19, Dow Jones has touched record high. The valuations of a number of companies are way beyond their existing business model potential. This can lead to capital market correction which can put a number of suppliers, collaborators, value chain partners in great financial difficulty. It will directly impact the business of Sas Phantom.
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. Sas Phantom needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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 Sas Phantom in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Sas Phantom 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Sas Phantom 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.
Environmental challenges
– Sas Phantom 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. Sas Phantom can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Sas Phantom 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.
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. Sas Phantom 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
– Sas Phantom has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Sas Phantom 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Sas Phantom 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry 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 SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry 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 SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry 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 SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry 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 SAS Institute: A Different Approach to Incentives and People Management Practices in the Software Industry 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 Sas Phantom needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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