Swot Analysis of "One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B)" written by Robert G. Eccles, Kaitlyn Simpson includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Langdon Davis facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Compensation, Cross-cultural management, Growth strategy, Leadership, Managing people and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) casestudy better are - – increasing commodity prices, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Langdon Davis, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Langdon Davis 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 One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Langdon Davis
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 Langdon Davis
Strengths One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Langdon Davis in One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Langdon Davis
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Langdon Davis does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Strong track record of project management
– Langdon Davis is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Langdon Davis 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 One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Langdon Davis to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Langdon Davis to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Langdon Davis in the sector have low bargaining power. One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Langdon Davis to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Langdon Davis in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Langdon Davis 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 One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) 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.
Analytics focus
– Langdon Davis 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, Kaitlyn Simpson 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
– Langdon Davis has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Langdon Davis to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Langdon Davis 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
– Langdon Davis has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Weaknesses One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) 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 One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Langdon Davis is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Langdon Davis 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Langdon Davis 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Langdon Davis products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Langdon Davis needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Langdon Davis 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Langdon Davis 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Langdon Davis, firm in the HBR case study One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B), in the dynamic environment Langdon Davis has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Langdon Davis has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B), it seems that the employees of Langdon Davis 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Langdon Davis 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 - One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Langdon Davis is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) 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 One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) | 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 One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) are -
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. Langdon Davis can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Langdon Davis 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 Langdon Davis to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Langdon Davis can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Langdon Davis operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
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. Langdon Davis can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Langdon Davis is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Langdon Davis 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Langdon Davis 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 One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Langdon Davis to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Langdon Davis has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Langdon Davis to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) case study. Langdon Davis can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Developing new processes and practices
– Langdon Davis 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.
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 Langdon Davis in the consumer business. Now Langdon Davis can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Langdon Davis 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Langdon Davis can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Loyalty marketing
– Langdon Davis 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.
Threats One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) are -
Regulatory challenges
– Langdon Davis 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.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Langdon Davis 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.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B), Langdon Davis may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Langdon Davis has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Langdon Davis 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.
Environmental challenges
– Langdon Davis 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. Langdon Davis can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Increasing wage structure of Langdon Davis
– 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 Langdon Davis.
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. Langdon Davis 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Langdon Davis with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Langdon Davis can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Langdon Davis 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 One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) .
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 Langdon Davis.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) 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 One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) 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 One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) 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 One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) 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 One Firm One Future at Davis Langdon (B) 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 Langdon Davis needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.