The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy!
Dr. Fred Carroll, a professor at Regency State, a large university in the Southeast, stopped in to talk to his department chairman, Dr. Ken Winston, about a likely change in the summer faculty pay plan. Rumors were circulating that summer teaching compensation would be cut. Winston, in an uncomfortable situation, replied that the College faced a serious budget shortfall, and the administration was looking at ways to reduce costs, in particular, the high costs of summer instruction. Carroll, who formerly had been a department chair, countered that summer compensation was just one of many possible areas for reducing costs and identified several other options. He did not accept the explanation that the budget must be balanced by reducing summer pay, and remarked that it was unfair, even discriminatory, and contrary to University policy. He vowed to investigate the situation and talk with Winston again. Along with Carroll several other faculty members had expressed their concerns about changes in summer pay to Winston. Faculty summer pay at Regency State was based on a percentage formula that was tied to the faculty member's academic year; those with higher salaries earned higher pay for a summer course. To reduce the summer compensation budget by about 25%, the dean, associate dean, and department chairs were looking at various ways of cutting costs. With the tradition of many year-round students and large summer enrollments, many faculty members were accustomed to getting significant summer pay to supplement their academic-year salaries. Winston, along with the other College administrators, were challenged in identifying alternatives and finding a satisfactory solution to the budget problem that would reduce summer compensation costs yet minimize adverse effects on faculty morale.
Swot Analysis of "The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy!" written by Thomas R. Miller includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Summer Winston facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Motivating people, Organizational culture and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
geopolitical disruptions, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy!
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Summer Winston, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Summer Winston 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 The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Summer Winston
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 Summer Winston
Strengths The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Summer Winston in The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! Harvard Business Review case study are -
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Summer Winston 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 Summer Winston in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Summer Winston 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 Summer Winston is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Summer Winston digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Summer Winston 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.
Organizational Resilience of Summer Winston
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Summer Winston does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Summer Winston is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! 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.
High brand equity
– Summer Winston has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Summer Winston to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Summer Winston to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Summer Winston to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Summer Winston has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Summer Winston 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.
Analytics focus
– Summer Winston 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 Thomas R. Miller 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Summer Winston in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Training and development
– Summer Winston has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! 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 The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! 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 The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Summer Winston is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Summer Winston 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Summer Winston is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Summer Winston needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Summer Winston to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy!, it seems that the employees of Summer Winston 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Summer Winston 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Summer Winston products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Summer Winston needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! HBR case study mentions - Summer Winston 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy!, is just above the industry average. Summer Winston 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy!, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Organizational Development strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Summer Winston 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 The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! 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 Summer Winston 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! | 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 The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Summer Winston 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, The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy!, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Summer Winston 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Summer Winston can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Summer Winston operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Summer Winston 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.
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. Summer Winston can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Developing new processes and practices
– Summer Winston 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Summer Winston can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! suggest that firm can provide automated chats to help consumers solve their own problems, provide online suggestions to get maximum out of the products and services, and help consumers to build a community where they can interact with each other to develop new features and uses.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Summer Winston 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 Summer Winston to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Manufacturing automation
– Summer Winston 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.
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 Summer Winston in the consumer business. Now Summer Winston can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Summer Winston 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Summer Winston 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
– Summer Winston 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 The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Summer Winston to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! are -
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. Summer Winston needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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. Summer Winston 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Summer Winston is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Summer Winston
– 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 Summer Winston.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy!, Summer Winston 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 .
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.
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. Summer Winston 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 Summer Winston with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Summer Winston business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Summer Winston.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Summer Winston 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Summer Winston 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! 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 The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! 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 The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! 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 The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! 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 The New Pay Plan: Summertime and the Livin's Not Easy! 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 Summer Winston needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
