Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment
Explores the challenges facing the new investor relations manager of a publicly traded customer relationship management software company, Mark Hanson, as he rethinks his company's disclosure strategy amidst new regulatory and competitive pressures and following a cease and desist order from the Securities and Exchange Commission. It is ideal for courses dedicated to investor relations and governance as well as organizational structure.
Swot Analysis of "Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment" written by Cynthia Clark Williams includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Desist Rethinks facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate governance, Government, Organizational structure, Technology and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Desist Rethinks, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Desist Rethinks 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 Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Desist Rethinks
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 Desist Rethinks
Strengths Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Desist Rethinks in Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Desist Rethinks 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 Desist Rethinks is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Desist Rethinks
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Desist Rethinks does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Desist Rethinks is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Desist Rethinks has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Desist Rethinks in the sector have low bargaining power. Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Desist Rethinks to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Desist Rethinks 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Desist Rethinks is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Desist Rethinks 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 Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Desist Rethinks 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Desist Rethinks is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment 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
– Desist Rethinks has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Desist Rethinks to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Desist Rethinks digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Desist Rethinks 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.
Weaknesses Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment are -
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Desist Rethinks has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Desist Rethinks even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Desist Rethinks 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 strategic competitive environment developments
– As Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment HBR case study mentions - Desist Rethinks 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Cynthia Clark Williams suggests that, Desist Rethinks 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment, it seems that the employees of Desist Rethinks 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Desist Rethinks 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Desist Rethinks 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 - Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment, 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Desist Rethinks is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Desist Rethinks needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Desist Rethinks to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Desist Rethinks products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Desist Rethinks needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment 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 Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Desist Rethinks is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment | 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 Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment are -
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 Desist Rethinks in the consumer business. Now Desist Rethinks 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 Desist Rethinks 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 Desist Rethinks to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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 Desist Rethinks 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Desist Rethinks 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 Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Desist Rethinks to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Desist Rethinks has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Desist Rethinks to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment case study. Desist Rethinks can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Desist Rethinks 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, Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Desist Rethinks 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Desist Rethinks 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. Desist Rethinks can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Desist Rethinks can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Desist Rethinks operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Desist Rethinks 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, Desist Rethinks 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
– Desist Rethinks 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.
Threats Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment are -
Increasing wage structure of Desist Rethinks
– 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 Desist Rethinks.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Desist Rethinks business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Desist Rethinks 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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Desist Rethinks has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Desist Rethinks 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.
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 Desist Rethinks 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. Desist Rethinks can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Desist Rethinks 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment, Desist Rethinks 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 .
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Desist Rethinks 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.
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 Desist Rethinks.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Desist Rethinks 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Desist Rethinks is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment 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 Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment 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 Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment 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 Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment 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 Siebel Systems Inc.: Facing a New Regulatory and Competitive Environment 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 Desist Rethinks needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
