Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc.
Details the rationale for and design of a unique organizational response by Motorola to the challenges of contingent staffing at its semiconductor facility in Austin, Texas. The new outsourcing strategy is built on principles of supply chain management and business webbing to deliver flexibility in staffing, cost controls, and high-quality workers. Through a detailed description of the company's existing methods for hiring contingent workers, it brings to light the organizational costs borne by firms that fail to develop an integrated strategic approach and provides an opportunity to examine the incentives of the different players (both internal and external) to participate in a new staffing model based on interfirm alliances with staffing companies. Also, sets up a discussion of the potential difficulties the company is likely to run into in implementing the new staffing model and broader issues, such as the evolving nature of the employment contract, employee trust and loyalty, and strategic issues that arise when multiple firms compete for the same workforce.
Swot Analysis of "Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc." written by Nancy Dean Beaulieu includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Staffing Contingent facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Joint ventures, Supply chain and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing energy prices, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc.
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Staffing Contingent, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Staffing Contingent 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 Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Staffing Contingent
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 Staffing Contingent
Strengths Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Staffing Contingent in Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Staffing Contingent 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
– Staffing Contingent is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Diverse revenue streams
– Staffing Contingent is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Staffing Contingent in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Staffing Contingent in the sector have low bargaining power. Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Staffing Contingent to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Staffing Contingent is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Staffing Contingent
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Staffing Contingent does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Staffing Contingent has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Staffing Contingent to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. 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.
Learning organization
- Staffing Contingent 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 Staffing Contingent is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Staffing Contingent has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Staffing Contingent 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.
Training and development
– Staffing Contingent has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. 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.
Weaknesses Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc., it seems that the employees of Staffing Contingent 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 Staffing Contingent, firm in the HBR case study Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. HBR case study mentions - Staffing Contingent 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, Nancy Dean Beaulieu suggests that, Staffing Contingent 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Staffing Contingent is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Staffing Contingent 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 - Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Staffing Contingent 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Staffing Contingent is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Staffing Contingent needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Staffing Contingent to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Staffing Contingent supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc., it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Staffing Contingent vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. 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 Staffing Contingent 's lucrative customers.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Staffing Contingent has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Opportunities Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. | 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 Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Staffing Contingent to increase its market reach. Staffing Contingent 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.
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. Staffing Contingent can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Staffing Contingent 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
– Staffing Contingent 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 Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Staffing Contingent to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Staffing Contingent 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Staffing Contingent 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Staffing Contingent 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, Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc., to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Staffing Contingent can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Staffing Contingent operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Staffing Contingent can leverage digital technologies such as artificial intelligence and machine learning to automate the production process, customer analytics to get better insights into consumer behavior, realtime digital dashboards to get better sales tracking, logistics and transportation, product tracking, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Staffing Contingent is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. 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.
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. Staffing Contingent 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. Staffing Contingent 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Staffing Contingent 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.
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 Staffing Contingent in the consumer business. Now Staffing Contingent can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Staffing Contingent 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. Staffing Contingent 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 Staffing Contingent 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.
Environmental challenges
– Staffing Contingent 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. Staffing Contingent can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc., Staffing Contingent 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 .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Staffing Contingent 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 Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. .
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 Staffing Contingent.
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 Staffing Contingent business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Staffing Contingent has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Staffing Contingent 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Staffing Contingent with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Staffing Contingent needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Staffing Contingent is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. 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 Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. 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 Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. 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 Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. 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 Contingent Workforce Planning at Motorola, Inc. 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 Staffing Contingent needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
