Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case
An interpersonal and systems case in which Jim Davis, who holds a staff position, is responsible for results that can be achieved only through influencing line (branch) managers over whom he has no direct authority. Lends itself to role plays of different kinds, yielding useful insights into the process of influence without direct authority.
Swot Analysis of "Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case" written by Danny J. Mainolfi, Allan Cohen includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Davis Jim facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Influence, Leadership, Organizational culture and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, technology disruption, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Davis Jim, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Davis Jim 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 Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Davis Jim
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 Davis Jim
Strengths Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Davis Jim in Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Davis Jim is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Davis Jim has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Davis Jim is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case 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.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Davis Jim digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Davis Jim 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Davis Jim is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Davis Jim
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Davis Jim does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Davis Jim 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 Davis Jim in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Davis Jim in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Davis Jim 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Davis Jim is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Davis Jim 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.
Learning organization
- Davis Jim 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 Davis Jim is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Danny J. Mainolfi, Allan Cohen suggests that, Davis Jim 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case 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 Davis Jim 's lucrative customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Davis Jim 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 - Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Davis Jim has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Davis Jim even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Davis Jim, firm in the HBR case study Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Davis Jim is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Davis Jim needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Davis Jim to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Davis Jim 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case 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 Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Davis Jim is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Davis Jim 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case, is just above the industry average. Davis Jim 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case, 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.
Opportunities Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case | 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 Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case are -
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Davis Jim can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Davis Jim 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. Davis Jim 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Davis Jim 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 Davis Jim in the consumer business. Now Davis Jim can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Davis Jim 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Davis Jim is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case 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 Davis Jim 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Davis Jim to increase its market reach. Davis Jim will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
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. Davis Jim can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Davis Jim 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, Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Davis Jim 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Davis Jim has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Davis Jim to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case case study. Davis Jim can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Davis Jim 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 Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case are -
Increasing wage structure of Davis Jim
– 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 Davis Jim.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Davis Jim 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 Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case .
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. Davis Jim can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Davis Jim 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. Davis Jim can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
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. Davis Jim 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 Davis Jim is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Davis Jim 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Davis Jim has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Davis Jim 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.
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 Davis Jim business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Davis Jim 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.
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. Davis Jim needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Davis Jim 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case 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 Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case 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 Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case 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 Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case 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 Who's in Charge?: The Jim Davis Case 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 Davis Jim needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
