Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy
Like many technology organizations in the late 1990s, Cisco was booming. It grew so quickly, in fact, that it was bringing in up to 1,000 new employees each month. Cisco's solution was to acquire talent by buying small firms, topping out in one year with 24 separate acquisitions. However, in 2000, the dot-com bubble burst and Cisco quickly realized that it had another human capital challenge on its hands: how to develop, rather than hire, the strategic thinkers and leaders needed for the future. Explores the challenges facing Mary Eckenrod, Cisco's vice-president of worldwide talent, in developing a new human capital strategy to identify and develop leaders from within the company--and to do this in a company with no tradition of developing people internally. How can Cisco move from a "buy" to a "make" human capital strategy?
Authors :: Jennifer Chatman, Victoria Chang, Charles A. O'Reilly
Swot Analysis of "Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy" written by Jennifer Chatman, Victoria Chang, Charles A. O'Reilly includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cisco Human facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Developing employees, Human resource management, Leadership, Mergers & acquisitions, Supply chain and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, technology disruption, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions,
there is backlash against globalization, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cisco Human, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cisco Human 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 Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cisco Human
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 Cisco Human
Strengths Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cisco Human in Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Cisco Human
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Cisco Human does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Cisco Human has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Cisco Human is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Cisco Human 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Cisco Human is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Cisco Human has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Cisco Human 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Cisco Human is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cisco Human 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy 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.
Learning organization
- Cisco Human 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 Cisco Human is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cisco Human 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 Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Cisco Human in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy are -
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Cisco Human 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy, in the dynamic environment Cisco Human has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Cisco Human has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cisco Human has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy, 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Cisco Human 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy 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 Cisco Human 's lucrative customers.
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 Cisco Human supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cisco Human vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Cisco Human 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Cisco Human products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Cisco Human needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy HBR case study mentions - Cisco Human 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Cisco Human is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy 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 Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy | 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 Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy are -
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Cisco Human has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Cisco Human to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy case study. Cisco Human can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Cisco Human 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Cisco Human 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 Cisco Human to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Cisco Human 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cisco Human 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Cisco Human is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cisco Human 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.
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. Cisco Human can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Cisco Human can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Cisco Human 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.
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 Cisco Human in the consumer business. Now Cisco Human can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Cisco Human 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cisco Human 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, Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy are -
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.
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. Cisco Human can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cisco Human 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.
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 Cisco Human business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Cisco Human 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.
Increasing wage structure of Cisco Human
– 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 Cisco Human.
Environmental challenges
– Cisco Human 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. Cisco Human can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy, Cisco Human 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, Cisco Human 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 Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy .
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. Cisco Human needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Cisco Human 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Cisco Human is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy 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 Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy 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 Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy 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 Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy 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 Cisco Systems: Developing a Human Capital Strategy 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 Cisco Human needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
