Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts
Daren Kemp, a partner at leadership consultancy and executive search firm Heidrick & Struggles, is responsible for the firm's relationship with Standard Chartered Bank (Standard Chartered). Standard Chartered is one of 94 companies in Heidrick's strategic partners program (SPP). The purpose of the SPP is to build strategic, value-based relationships with clients. Kemp joined Heidrick in 2008 and by 2010 has successfully built a strong relationship with Standard Chartered. The case describes how Kemp and his team grew this relationship and raises questions about what can be learned from this experience and applied to the other accounts in the SPP.
Swot Analysis of "Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts" written by Robert G. Eccles, Kerry Herman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Chartered Spp facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Organizational culture, Strategy and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, technology disruption, there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Chartered Spp, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Chartered Spp 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 Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Chartered Spp
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 Chartered Spp
Strengths Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Chartered Spp in Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Chartered Spp 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 Chartered Spp is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Strong track record of project management
– Chartered Spp is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Chartered Spp 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 Chartered Spp in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Chartered Spp is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Chartered Spp
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Chartered Spp does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Chartered Spp 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 Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Chartered Spp in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Chartered Spp has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Chartered Spp 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Chartered Spp to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Chartered Spp to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Chartered Spp is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts 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.
Training and development
– Chartered Spp has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts 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.
Analytics focus
– Chartered Spp 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 Robert G. Eccles, Kerry Herman 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.
Weaknesses Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts HBR case study mentions - Chartered Spp 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Robert G. Eccles, Kerry Herman suggests that, Chartered Spp 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Chartered Spp 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. Chartered Spp 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Chartered Spp 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Chartered Spp is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Chartered Spp 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts, 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.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Chartered Spp supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Chartered Spp vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Chartered Spp 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Chartered Spp is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Chartered Spp needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Chartered Spp to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Chartered Spp 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.
Opportunities Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts | 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 Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Chartered Spp 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Chartered Spp 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 Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Chartered Spp to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
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. Chartered Spp can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Manufacturing automation
– Chartered Spp 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Chartered Spp 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Chartered Spp 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
– Chartered Spp can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Chartered Spp to increase its market reach. Chartered Spp 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Chartered Spp 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, Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Chartered Spp 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 Chartered Spp to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Chartered Spp 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.
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 Chartered Spp in the consumer business. Now Chartered Spp can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Chartered Spp 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.
Threats Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts are -
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Chartered Spp in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Chartered Spp
– 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 Chartered Spp.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Chartered Spp 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Chartered Spp 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 Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts .
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 Chartered Spp business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Chartered Spp 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.
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 Chartered Spp.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Chartered Spp high dependence on third party suppliers can disrupt its processes and delivery mechanism. For example -the current troubles of car makers because of chip shortage is because the chip companies started producing chips for electronic companies rather than car manufacturers.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Chartered Spp 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 Chartered Spp 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 Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts, Chartered Spp 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 .
Environmental challenges
– Chartered Spp 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. Chartered Spp can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts 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 Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts 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 Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts 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 Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts 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 Heidrick & Struggles and Standard Chartered Bank: Managing Global Key Accounts 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 Chartered Spp needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.