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The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution

Case Study Description of The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program


This case examines a distinctive leadership development program within the World Economic Forum. The program, born out of the conviction that the complexity of global challenges at the beginning of the 21st century required a new generation of global leaders, recruited a small number of "high potential" young leaders from around the world as "Global Leadership Fellows" each year. During the three-year program, Fellows combined a position at the Forum with formal classroom training modules, one-on-one coaching, peer mentoring, and extensive assessment. The case explores the Forum's understanding of its role in the world, the vision of leadership that animates the program, and the structure and content of the program. It asks how successful the program has been in providing the kind of transformational experience it envisions and whether it could or should be replicated by other organizations.

Authors :: Rakesh Khurana, Eric Baldwin

Topics :: Organizational Development

Tags :: Developing employees, Globalization, Government, Leadership, Leadership development, Organizational culture, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis

Swot Analysis of "The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program" written by Rakesh Khurana, Eric Baldwin includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Fellows Program facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Developing employees, Globalization, Government, Leadership, Leadership development, Organizational culture and Organizational Development.


Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, geopolitical disruptions, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc



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Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program


SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Fellows Program, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Fellows Program 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 World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Fellows Program
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 Fellows Program




Strengths The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The strengths of Fellows Program in The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program Harvard Business Review case study are -

Effective Research and Development (R&D)

– Fellows Program 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 The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.

Strong track record of project management

– Fellows Program is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.

Low bargaining power of suppliers

– Suppliers of Fellows Program in the sector have low bargaining power. The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Fellows Program to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.

Successful track record of launching new products

– Fellows Program has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Fellows Program 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.

Training and development

– Fellows Program has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program 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

– Fellows Program is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program 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.

Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry

– The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Fellows Program to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Fellows Program to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.

Cross disciplinary teams

– Horizontal connected teams at the Fellows Program 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.

High switching costs

– The high switching costs that Fellows Program 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.

Organizational Resilience of Fellows Program

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

Highly skilled collaborators

– Fellows Program 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 The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.

Analytics focus

– Fellows Program 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 Rakesh Khurana, Eric Baldwin 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 The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis

The weaknesses of The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program are -

Capital Spending Reduction

– Even during the low interest decade, Fellows Program 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.

Slow to harness new channels of communication

– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Fellows Program is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.

Interest costs

– Compare to the competition, Fellows Program 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.

High bargaining power of channel partners

– Because of the regulatory requirements, Rakesh Khurana, Eric Baldwin suggests that, Fellows Program 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.

Increasing silos among functional specialists

– The organizational structure of Fellows Program is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Fellows Program needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Fellows Program to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.

Low market penetration in new markets

– Outside its home market of Fellows Program, firm in the HBR case study The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.

Need for greater diversity

– Fellows Program 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.

High dependence on star products

– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program 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 Fellows Program has relatively successful track record of launching new products.

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 Fellows Program supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Fellows Program vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.

Skills based hiring

– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Fellows Program 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.

Workers concerns about automation

– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Fellows Program 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.




Opportunities The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program | 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 World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program are -

Increase in government spending

– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Fellows Program can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Fellows Program operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.

Manufacturing automation

– Fellows Program can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Organizational Development segment. It can use CAD and 3D printing to build a quick prototype and pilot testing products. It can leverage automation using machine learning and artificial intelligence to do faster production at lowers costs, and it can leverage the growth in satellite and tracking technologies to improve inventory management, transportation, and shipping.

Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains

– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Fellows Program 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 World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.

Learning at scale

– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Fellows Program 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.

Buying journey improvements

– Fellows Program can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program 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.

Loyalty marketing

– Fellows Program 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.

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 Fellows Program 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.

Redefining models of collaboration and team work

– As explained in the weaknesses section, Fellows Program is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.

Developing new processes and practices

– Fellows Program 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.

Creating value in data economy

– The success of analytics program of Fellows Program has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Fellows Program to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program case study. Fellows Program can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.

Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities

– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Fellows Program 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 Fellows Program to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.

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. Fellows Program can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.

Lowering marketing communication costs

– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Fellows Program 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.




Threats The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis


The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program are -

Trade war between China and United States

– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Fellows Program 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 Fellows Program

– 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 Fellows Program.

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.

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 Fellows Program.

Stagnating economy with rate increase

– Fellows Program 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.

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.

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 Fellows Program business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.

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. Fellows Program 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.

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. Fellows Program needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.

Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins

– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Fellows Program 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 The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program .

Consumer confidence and its impact on Fellows Program 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.

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

Regulatory challenges

– Fellows Program needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Organizational Development industry regulations.




Weighted SWOT Analysis of The World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program 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 World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program 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 World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program 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 World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program 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 World Economic Forum's Global Leadership Fellows Program 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 Fellows Program needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.



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