Case Study Description of iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective
This negotiation exercise simulates the 2015 negotiation between senior leadership at iQmetrix, a Regina-based point of sale software firm, and Humanity, a San Francisco-based provider of a human resources module that iQmetrix seeks to bundle into its software product. The exercise is unique in that it occurs in a mediated environment where both parties only interact over email. There is no face-to-face interaction, leaving both sides to negotiate an effective agreement while communicating solely through email.
Authors :: Chris Street, Ann C. Frost, Maurice Thibodeau
Swot Analysis of "iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective" written by Chris Street, Ann C. Frost, Maurice Thibodeau includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Iqmetrix Humanity facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Joint ventures, Leadership, Negotiations, Organizational culture and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Iqmetrix Humanity, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Iqmetrix Humanity 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 iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Iqmetrix Humanity
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 Iqmetrix Humanity
Strengths iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Iqmetrix Humanity in iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Iqmetrix Humanity is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Iqmetrix Humanity has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Iqmetrix Humanity is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective 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 iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective 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.
Analytics focus
– Iqmetrix Humanity 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 Chris Street, Ann C. Frost, Maurice Thibodeau 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.
High brand equity
– Iqmetrix Humanity has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Iqmetrix Humanity to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Iqmetrix Humanity 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 iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Iqmetrix Humanity in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Iqmetrix Humanity 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 iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Iqmetrix Humanity 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 Iqmetrix Humanity is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Iqmetrix Humanity to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Iqmetrix Humanity to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Iqmetrix Humanity has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Iqmetrix Humanity 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.
Weaknesses iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Iqmetrix Humanity 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective 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 iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Iqmetrix Humanity is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Iqmetrix Humanity 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. Iqmetrix Humanity 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective 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 Iqmetrix Humanity has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Iqmetrix Humanity 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 - iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective, it seems that the employees of Iqmetrix Humanity 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Iqmetrix Humanity 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective, is just above the industry average. Iqmetrix Humanity needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Lack of clear differentiation of Iqmetrix Humanity products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Iqmetrix Humanity needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective 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 Iqmetrix Humanity 's lucrative customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective HBR case study mentions - Iqmetrix Humanity takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Opportunities iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective | 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 iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Iqmetrix Humanity has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Iqmetrix Humanity to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective case study. Iqmetrix Humanity can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Iqmetrix Humanity 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.
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 Iqmetrix Humanity in the consumer business. Now Iqmetrix Humanity can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Iqmetrix Humanity 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Iqmetrix Humanity 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 Iqmetrix Humanity to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Developing new processes and practices
– Iqmetrix Humanity 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Iqmetrix Humanity 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Iqmetrix Humanity 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Iqmetrix Humanity 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, iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Iqmetrix Humanity can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Iqmetrix Humanity 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 iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Iqmetrix Humanity to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Iqmetrix Humanity is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Iqmetrix Humanity 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.
Threats iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective are -
Increasing wage structure of Iqmetrix Humanity
– 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 Iqmetrix Humanity.
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. Iqmetrix Humanity can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Iqmetrix Humanity 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 Iqmetrix Humanity is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Iqmetrix Humanity 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 iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Iqmetrix Humanity 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective, Iqmetrix Humanity 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 .
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 Iqmetrix Humanity.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Iqmetrix Humanity 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Iqmetrix Humanity has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Iqmetrix Humanity 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.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Iqmetrix Humanity will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Regulatory challenges
– Iqmetrix Humanity 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective 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 iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective 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 iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective 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 iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective 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 iQmetrix-Humanity: Negotiating a Partner Agreement-Maurice Thibodeau's Perspective 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 Iqmetrix Humanity needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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