Case Study Description of Organizational Alignment Exercise
Presents an overview of a method for diagnosing and developing an organization's capability to achieve its goals and implement its strategy, with exercises for application. A rewritten version of an earlier exercise.
Swot Analysis of "Organizational Alignment Exercise" written by Michael Beer, John J. Gabarro includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Exercise Diagnosing facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Organizational Alignment Exercise case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competitive strategy, Human resource management, Leadership, Organizational culture, Organizational structure, Strategic planning and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Organizational Alignment Exercise casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation,
supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Organizational Alignment Exercise
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Organizational Alignment Exercise case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Exercise Diagnosing, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Exercise Diagnosing 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 Organizational Alignment Exercise can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Organizational Alignment Exercise case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Exercise Diagnosing
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 Exercise Diagnosing
Strengths Organizational Alignment Exercise | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Exercise Diagnosing in Organizational Alignment Exercise Harvard Business Review case study are -
Learning organization
- Exercise Diagnosing 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 Exercise Diagnosing is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Organizational Alignment Exercise Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Exercise Diagnosing digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Exercise Diagnosing has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Analytics focus
– Exercise Diagnosing 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 Michael Beer, John J. Gabarro 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.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Exercise Diagnosing 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 Exercise Diagnosing in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Diverse revenue streams
– Exercise Diagnosing is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Organizational Alignment Exercise 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Exercise Diagnosing is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Organizational Alignment Exercise Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Exercise Diagnosing is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Organizational Alignment Exercise are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Exercise Diagnosing in the sector have low bargaining power. Organizational Alignment Exercise has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Exercise Diagnosing to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Strong track record of project management
– Exercise Diagnosing is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Exercise Diagnosing
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Exercise Diagnosing does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Exercise Diagnosing 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Exercise Diagnosing has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Exercise Diagnosing 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.
Weaknesses Organizational Alignment Exercise | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Organizational Alignment Exercise are -
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Exercise Diagnosing, firm in the HBR case study Organizational Alignment Exercise needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Exercise Diagnosing is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Exercise Diagnosing needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Exercise Diagnosing to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Exercise Diagnosing 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Organizational Alignment Exercise 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 Exercise Diagnosing 's lucrative customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Organizational Alignment Exercise HBR case study mentions - Exercise Diagnosing 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, Michael Beer, John J. Gabarro suggests that, Exercise Diagnosing 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Organizational Alignment Exercise 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 Exercise Diagnosing has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Organizational Alignment Exercise, is just above the industry average. Exercise Diagnosing needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Exercise Diagnosing 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
– Exercise Diagnosing 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Exercise Diagnosing 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 - Organizational Alignment Exercise should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Organizational Alignment Exercise | 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 Organizational Alignment Exercise are -
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 Exercise Diagnosing in the consumer business. Now Exercise Diagnosing can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Exercise Diagnosing has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Exercise Diagnosing to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Organizational Alignment Exercise case study. Exercise Diagnosing can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Exercise Diagnosing is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Organizational Alignment Exercise 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.
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 Exercise Diagnosing 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Exercise Diagnosing 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, Organizational Alignment Exercise, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Exercise Diagnosing 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 Organizational Alignment Exercise - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Exercise Diagnosing to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Exercise Diagnosing 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Exercise Diagnosing 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.
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. Exercise Diagnosing can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Exercise Diagnosing 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Exercise Diagnosing can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Organizational Alignment Exercise 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Exercise Diagnosing 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 Exercise Diagnosing 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, Exercise Diagnosing can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Exercise Diagnosing operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Threats Organizational Alignment Exercise External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Organizational Alignment Exercise are -
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. Exercise Diagnosing 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Exercise Diagnosing is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Exercise Diagnosing
– 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 Exercise Diagnosing.
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 Exercise Diagnosing.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Exercise Diagnosing 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Organizational Alignment Exercise, Exercise Diagnosing 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 .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Exercise Diagnosing 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 Organizational Alignment Exercise .
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.
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. Exercise Diagnosing needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Exercise Diagnosing with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Exercise Diagnosing in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Exercise Diagnosing 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Organizational Alignment Exercise 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 Organizational Alignment Exercise 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 Organizational Alignment Exercise 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 Organizational Alignment Exercise 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 Organizational Alignment Exercise 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 Exercise Diagnosing needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.