Should the General Manager Be Fired? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Should the General Manager Be Fired?
In September 2008, the CEO of Rainbow Group, a Chinese group of companies specializing in environmental protection services, was in Beijing, China, thinking about his experience that evening. A few hours ago, eight senior executives from Rainbow Group's subsidiary in Hangzhou had come to Beijing requesting that the CEO fire their general manager, who had been appointed by the CEO only six months ago. This manager had taken control of the Hangzhou subsidiary with ambitious efforts to implement lean management and better cost control, but had met resistance from the other managers. The CEO was reviewing this appointment and thinking hard. What was the problem? What should he do? Fengli Mu is affiliated with China University of Political Science and Law. Tieying Huang is affiliated with Peking University.
Swot Analysis of "Should the General Manager Be Fired?" written by MU Fengli, Tieying Huang, Jiao Li includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Rainbow Hangzhou facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Should the General Manager Be Fired? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leading teams, Personnel policies and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Should the General Manager Be Fired? casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, wage bills are increasing, geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google,
there is backlash against globalization, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Should the General Manager Be Fired?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Should the General Manager Be Fired? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Rainbow Hangzhou, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Rainbow Hangzhou 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 Should the General Manager Be Fired? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Should the General Manager Be Fired? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Rainbow Hangzhou
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 Rainbow Hangzhou
Strengths Should the General Manager Be Fired? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Rainbow Hangzhou in Should the General Manager Be Fired? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Should the General Manager Be Fired? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Rainbow Hangzhou to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Rainbow Hangzhou to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Rainbow Hangzhou has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Rainbow Hangzhou is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Should the General Manager Be Fired? 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
– Rainbow Hangzhou has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Rainbow Hangzhou to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Rainbow Hangzhou 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 Should the General Manager Be Fired? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Rainbow Hangzhou has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Rainbow Hangzhou 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Rainbow Hangzhou in the sector have low bargaining power. Should the General Manager Be Fired? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Rainbow Hangzhou to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Rainbow Hangzhou 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 Should the General Manager Be Fired? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Rainbow Hangzhou 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 Rainbow Hangzhou is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Should the General Manager Be Fired? Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Rainbow Hangzhou 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 Rainbow Hangzhou in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Rainbow Hangzhou is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Should the General Manager Be Fired? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Rainbow Hangzhou 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.
Weaknesses Should the General Manager Be Fired? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Should the General Manager Be Fired? are -
Need for greater diversity
– Rainbow Hangzhou 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Rainbow Hangzhou 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 Should the General Manager Be Fired? 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 Should the General Manager Be Fired? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Rainbow Hangzhou is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Rainbow Hangzhou products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Rainbow Hangzhou needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Should the General Manager Be Fired? 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 Rainbow Hangzhou has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Should the General Manager Be Fired?, it seems that the employees of Rainbow Hangzhou 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Rainbow Hangzhou 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Rainbow Hangzhou 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 - Should the General Manager Be Fired? should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Should the General Manager Be Fired? HBR case study mentions - Rainbow Hangzhou 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Should the General Manager Be Fired?, 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Rainbow Hangzhou is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Should the General Manager Be Fired? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Should the General Manager Be Fired? | 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 Should the General Manager Be Fired? are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Rainbow Hangzhou 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, Should the General Manager Be Fired?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Rainbow Hangzhou 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Rainbow Hangzhou 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 Should the General Manager Be Fired? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Rainbow Hangzhou 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 Rainbow Hangzhou to increase its market reach. Rainbow Hangzhou 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Rainbow Hangzhou can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Rainbow Hangzhou operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Rainbow Hangzhou can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Should the General Manager Be Fired? 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Rainbow Hangzhou 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Rainbow Hangzhou has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Rainbow Hangzhou to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Should the General Manager Be Fired? case study. Rainbow Hangzhou can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
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. Rainbow Hangzhou can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Rainbow Hangzhou in the consumer business. Now Rainbow Hangzhou can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Rainbow Hangzhou can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Rainbow Hangzhou 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Rainbow Hangzhou 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 Should the General Manager Be Fired? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Should the General Manager Be Fired? are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Rainbow Hangzhou with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Rainbow Hangzhou 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.
Increasing wage structure of Rainbow Hangzhou
– 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 Rainbow Hangzhou.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Rainbow Hangzhou 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 Should the General Manager Be Fired? .
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 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.
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 Rainbow Hangzhou business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Rainbow Hangzhou 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. Rainbow Hangzhou can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Rainbow Hangzhou 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.
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 Rainbow Hangzhou.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Rainbow Hangzhou is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Rainbow Hangzhou 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.
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. Rainbow Hangzhou 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Should the General Manager Be Fired? 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 Should the General Manager Be Fired? 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 Should the General Manager Be Fired? 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 Should the General Manager Be Fired? 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 Should the General Manager Be Fired? 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 Rainbow Hangzhou needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.