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LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation


LEO is a 50-50 joint venture that produces and sells electron microscopes. It is owned by Carl Zeiss of Germany and Leica of Switzerland and consists of the small businesses that each parent company had in this area. The new company faces formidable challenges, as it is dominated in the market by Japanese competitors. Neither business under the management of its parent company was earning a satisfactory return. The case is written from the viewpoint of Karl Kalbag, general manager of the joint venture, at a time when it is about six months old. He faces a real challenge in bringing his inherited management teams together and in crafting a strategy that will win in the market. Looks at managing change, merging cultures, and creating strategy.

Authors :: J. Peter Killing

Topics :: Organizational Development

Tags :: Joint ventures, Organizational culture, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation" written by J. Peter Killing includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Electron Leica facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Joint ventures, Organizational culture and Organizational Development.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Electron Leica, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Electron Leica 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 LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Electron Leica
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 Electron Leica




Strengths LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Electron Leica in LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation Harvard Business Review case study are -

Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment

- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Electron Leica digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Electron Leica 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.

Innovation driven organization

– Electron Leica is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Electron Leica are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.

Training and development

– Electron Leica has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation 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

– Electron Leica is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation 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.

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Electron Leica 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 LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation - 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

- Electron Leica 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 Electron Leica is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.

Analytics focus

– Electron Leica 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 J. Peter Killing 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

– Electron Leica has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Electron Leica to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.

Operational resilience

– The operational resilience strategy in the LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation 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.

Organizational Resilience of Electron Leica

– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Electron Leica does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry

– LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Electron Leica to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Electron Leica to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.






Weaknesses LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation are -

Need for greater diversity

– Electron Leica has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.

No frontier risks strategy

– After analyzing the HBR case study LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation, 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.

Products dominated business model

– Even though Electron Leica 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 - LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Electron Leica 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 LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation, is just above the industry average. Electron Leica 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.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Electron Leica, firm in the HBR case study LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Electron Leica 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.

Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy

– From the instances in the HBR case study LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation, it seems that the employees of Electron Leica 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.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, J. Peter Killing suggests that, Electron Leica 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.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Electron Leica 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.

Aligning sales with marketing

– It come across in the case study LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation 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 LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Electron Leica is planning to shift buying processes online.




Opportunities LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation | 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 LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation are -

Manufacturing automation

– Electron Leica 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 Electron Leica 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.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Electron Leica 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.

Leveraging digital technologies

– Electron Leica 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.

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. Electron Leica can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Electron Leica 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.

Using analytics as competitive advantage

– Electron Leica 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 LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Electron Leica to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.

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 Electron Leica in the consumer business. Now Electron Leica 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 Electron Leica to increase its market reach. Electron Leica 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Electron Leica has focused on building a highly responsive customer relationship management platform. This platform is built on in-house data and driven by analytics and artificial intelligence. The customer analytics can help the organization to fine tune its loyalty marketing efforts, increase the wallet share of the organization, reduce wastage on mainstream advertising spending, build better pricing strategies using personalization, etc.

Reforming the budgeting process

- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Electron Leica can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Electron Leica has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Electron Leica to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation case study. Electron Leica can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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. Electron Leica 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. Electron Leica 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.




Threats LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation are -

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. Electron Leica can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.

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 Electron Leica.

Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution

– Electron Leica has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Electron Leica 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.

Regulatory challenges

– Electron Leica 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 wage structure of Electron Leica

– 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 Electron Leica.

Shortening product life cycle

– it is one of the major threat that Electron Leica is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.

Environmental challenges

– Electron Leica 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. Electron Leica can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.

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. Electron Leica 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.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Electron Leica 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.

Consumer confidence and its impact on Electron Leica 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.

Barriers of entry lowering

– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Electron Leica with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.

Learning curve for new practices

– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation, Electron Leica 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 .

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 Electron Leica business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation 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 LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation 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 LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation 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 LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation 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 LEO Electron Microscopy Ltd: A Zeiss-Leica Cooperation 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 Electron Leica needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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