Case Study Description of National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions
Scott Taylor, CEO & founder of NLM, is a serial entrepreneur faced with an important decision. As his industry consolidates, he knows that his company must grow quickly, yet he believes he has reached the limit of what organic growth can achieve. Should he accept the offer provided by a private equity firm that is buying up other small competitors in his industry?
Swot Analysis of "National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions" written by Lynda M. Applegate, Elizabeth Collins includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Consolidates Nlm facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Organizational structure, Social enterprise, Strategy, Venture capital and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, technology disruption, increasing commodity prices,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Consolidates Nlm, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Consolidates Nlm 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 National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Consolidates Nlm
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 Consolidates Nlm
Strengths National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Consolidates Nlm in National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Consolidates Nlm 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 Lynda M. Applegate, Elizabeth Collins 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 Consolidates Nlm in the sector have low bargaining power. National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Consolidates Nlm to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Consolidates Nlm 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 National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Consolidates Nlm
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Consolidates Nlm does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Consolidates Nlm to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Consolidates Nlm to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Consolidates Nlm is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Consolidates Nlm 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 National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Consolidates Nlm 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
– Consolidates Nlm has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Consolidates Nlm 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.
Learning organization
- Consolidates Nlm 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 Consolidates Nlm is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Consolidates Nlm is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Weaknesses National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Consolidates Nlm is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Consolidates Nlm needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Consolidates Nlm to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Consolidates Nlm 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Consolidates Nlm 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Consolidates Nlm, firm in the HBR case study National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Consolidates Nlm is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Consolidates Nlm 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions 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 Consolidates Nlm 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions, in the dynamic environment Consolidates Nlm has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Consolidates Nlm has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Consolidates Nlm 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. Consolidates Nlm 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Consolidates Nlm 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Lynda M. Applegate, Elizabeth Collins suggests that, Consolidates Nlm 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.
Opportunities National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions | 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 National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Consolidates Nlm 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.
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. Consolidates Nlm 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. Consolidates Nlm 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Consolidates Nlm 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, National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Consolidates Nlm 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Consolidates Nlm 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.
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. Consolidates Nlm can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Consolidates Nlm 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 National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Consolidates Nlm to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Consolidates Nlm to increase its market reach. Consolidates Nlm 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.
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. Consolidates Nlm can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– Consolidates Nlm 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.
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 Consolidates Nlm 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Consolidates Nlm 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Consolidates Nlm is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions 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 National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Consolidates Nlm 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Consolidates Nlm 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.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Consolidates Nlm has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Consolidates Nlm 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Consolidates Nlm 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.
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 Consolidates Nlm in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Consolidates Nlm 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. Consolidates Nlm can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
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 Consolidates Nlm.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Consolidates Nlm 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions, Consolidates Nlm 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 wage structure of Consolidates Nlm
– 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 Consolidates Nlm.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Consolidates Nlm 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 National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions 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 National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions 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 National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions 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 National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions 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 National Logistics Management: Founder Decisions 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 Consolidates Nlm needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.