Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B)
While reading the Wall Street Journal, Edward Rogers notices an advertisement for a knowledge management architect at the Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Maryland. Rogers is an academic whose scholarship centers on developing models of how and why people cooperate intellectually. After submitting his resume and completing the interview process, Rogers is offered the position for a term appointment of three years. After one month on the job, Rogers wonders how he should proceed in helping the Goddard Space Flight Center become a learning organization. It is, in fact, the kind of opportunity Rogers has looked forward to for many years, but what will his plan of attack look like? How can he help this collection of rocket scientists work better together? In the B case, Rogers's action plan is presented, together with input from NASA engineers, scientists and other key players. See also the A case (UV3262).
Swot Analysis of "Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B)" written by James G. Clawson, Gerry Yemen includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Rogers Goddard facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Government, Innovation, Organizational structure and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) casestudy better are - – there is backlash against globalization, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Rogers Goddard, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Rogers Goddard 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 Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Rogers Goddard
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 Rogers Goddard
Strengths Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Rogers Goddard in Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Rogers Goddard has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Rogers Goddard 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Rogers Goddard 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 Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Rogers Goddard 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.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Rogers Goddard 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 Rogers Goddard in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Rogers Goddard is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Rogers Goddard 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 Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Rogers Goddard in the sector have low bargaining power. Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Rogers Goddard to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Rogers Goddard has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Rogers Goddard to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Diverse revenue streams
– Rogers Goddard is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) 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
– Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Rogers Goddard to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Rogers Goddard to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Analytics focus
– Rogers Goddard 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 James G. Clawson, Gerry Yemen 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (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.
Weaknesses Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) HBR case study mentions - Rogers Goddard 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Rogers Goddard is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Rogers Goddard needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Rogers Goddard to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Rogers Goddard 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Rogers Goddard 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B), it seems that the employees of Rogers Goddard don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) 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 Rogers Goddard has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (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 Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Rogers Goddard is planning to shift buying processes online.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B), 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, Rogers Goddard is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, James G. Clawson, Gerry Yemen suggests that, Rogers Goddard 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Rogers Goddard products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Rogers Goddard needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (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 Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (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. Rogers Goddard can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Rogers Goddard is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Rogers Goddard 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 Rogers Goddard can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Rogers Goddard 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Rogers Goddard can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Rogers Goddard 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, Rogers Goddard 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Rogers Goddard 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Organizational Development industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Rogers Goddard can take advantage of these changes in consumer behavior to build a far more efficient business model. For example consumer regular ordering of products can reduce both last mile delivery costs and market penetration costs. Rogers Goddard can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Rogers Goddard can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Rogers Goddard operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Rogers Goddard 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 Rogers Goddard to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Rogers Goddard 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 Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B) are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Rogers Goddard 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Rogers Goddard has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Rogers Goddard 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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Rogers Goddard
– 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 Rogers Goddard.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (B), Rogers Goddard 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
– Rogers Goddard 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. Rogers Goddard can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
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 Rogers Goddard.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Rogers Goddard with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Rogers Goddard 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. Rogers Goddard 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Rogers Goddard 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.
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. Rogers Goddard can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (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 Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (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 Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (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 Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (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 Goddard Space Flight Center: Building A Learning Organization (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 Rogers Goddard needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
