Swot Analysis of "Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration" written by Michael Beer, Gregory C. Rogers includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hewlett Rosa facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Organizational culture, Organizational structure and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices,
wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hewlett Rosa, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hewlett Rosa 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 Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hewlett Rosa
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 Hewlett Rosa
Strengths Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hewlett Rosa in Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Hewlett Rosa
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Hewlett Rosa does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Hewlett Rosa 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 Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Hewlett Rosa 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 Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Hewlett Rosa 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 Michael Beer, Gregory C. Rogers 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Hewlett Rosa in the sector have low bargaining power. Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Hewlett Rosa to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Hewlett Rosa is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Hewlett Rosa has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Hewlett Rosa 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
– Hewlett Rosa has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration 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 Hewlett Rosa digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Hewlett Rosa 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.
Learning organization
- Hewlett Rosa 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 Hewlett Rosa is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Hewlett Rosa is one of the leading players in its industry. Over the years it has not only transformed the business landscape in its segment but also across the whole industry. The ability to lead change has enabled Hewlett Rosa in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Weaknesses Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Hewlett Rosa 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Hewlett Rosa is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Hewlett Rosa needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Hewlett Rosa 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 Hewlett Rosa supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Hewlett Rosa vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration 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 Hewlett Rosa has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Hewlett Rosa 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Michael Beer, Gregory C. Rogers suggests that, Hewlett Rosa 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Hewlett Rosa products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Hewlett Rosa needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Hewlett Rosa 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Hewlett Rosa, firm in the HBR case study Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration 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 Hewlett Rosa 's lucrative customers.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration 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 Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Hewlett Rosa is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration | 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 Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration are -
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Hewlett Rosa 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 Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Hewlett Rosa to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Hewlett Rosa 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 Hewlett Rosa to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Hewlett Rosa 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.
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. Hewlett Rosa can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Hewlett Rosa 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.
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. Hewlett Rosa can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Hewlett Rosa in the consumer business. Now Hewlett Rosa can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Hewlett Rosa to increase its market reach. Hewlett Rosa 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.
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 Hewlett Rosa 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Hewlett Rosa has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Hewlett Rosa to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration case study. Hewlett Rosa can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Hewlett Rosa is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration 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. Hewlett Rosa 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. Hewlett Rosa 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Hewlett Rosa can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Hewlett Rosa with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Hewlett Rosa 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Hewlett Rosa has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Hewlett Rosa 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.
Increasing wage structure of Hewlett Rosa
– 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 Hewlett Rosa.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Hewlett Rosa 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.
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. Hewlett Rosa needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Hewlett Rosa 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Hewlett Rosa 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 Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Hewlett Rosa 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Hewlett Rosa 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.
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.
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 Hewlett Rosa business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration 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 Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration 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 Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration 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 Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration 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 Hewlett-Packard's Santa Rosa Systems Division (B): The Second Profiling Iteration 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 Hewlett Rosa needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
