Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies
More and more, the task of the HR department is one of identifying and articulating primary strategic values of the corporate culture. As an example, Texas Instruments shelved its cumbersome approach to updating HR policy and switched to a system that allowed the rapid response needed in a fast-changing environment. In companies with a strongly articulated value-based culture, the challenge is to apply that culture to the formulation of specific HR policies. Doing so requires that HR policies be examined for relevance to the current business environment, connection to strategic goals, adaptability to changing circumstances, applicability across the firm's theater of operations, familiarity to employees, ease of interpretation and application, specification of the bounds of acceptable employee behavior, and extent of commitment to policies by employees. The process of designing HR policies in a value-based culture is illustrated by the experiences of Texas Instruments, Bell Atlantic, and Unisys.
Swot Analysis of "Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies" written by Thomas M. Begley, David P. Boyd includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Hr Policies facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Organizational culture, Strategy execution and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies casestudy better are - – banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, there is increasing trade war between United States & China,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Hr Policies, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Hr Policies 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 Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Hr Policies
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 Hr Policies
Strengths Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Hr Policies in Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Hr Policies 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 Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– Hr Policies is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies 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.
Analytics focus
– Hr Policies 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 Thomas M. Begley, David P. Boyd can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Hr Policies 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Hr Policies to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Hr Policies to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
High brand equity
– Hr Policies has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Hr Policies to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Hr Policies is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Hr Policies is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Hr Policies 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 Hr Policies is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Hr Policies 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 Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Hr Policies 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Hr Policies in the sector have low bargaining power. Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Hr Policies to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Hr Policies products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Hr Policies needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies, in the dynamic environment Hr Policies has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Hr Policies has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Hr Policies is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Hr Policies needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Hr Policies to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies, 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.
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 Hr Policies supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Hr Policies vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Hr Policies 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies 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 Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Hr Policies is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies 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 Hr Policies 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Hr Policies 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 Hr Policies 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 - Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Hr Policies 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.
Opportunities Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies | 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 Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Hr Policies can develop new processes and procedures in Organizational Development industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Hr Policies is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Hr Policies 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Hr Policies 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 Hr Policies to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Hr Policies can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Hr Policies 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Hr Policies has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Hr Policies to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies case study. Hr Policies can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Hr Policies 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Hr Policies 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Hr Policies 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 Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Hr Policies to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Hr Policies to increase its market reach. Hr Policies 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.
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. Hr Policies 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. Hr Policies 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Hr Policies 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.
Threats Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Hr Policies can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
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. Hr Policies 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Hr Policies has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Hr Policies 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 Hr Policies business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Hr Policies 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Hr Policies is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Environmental challenges
– Hr Policies 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. Hr Policies 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 Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies, Hr Policies 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Hr Policies 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Hr Policies 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. Hr Policies can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Hr Policies with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Hr Policies needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies 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 Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies 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 Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies 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 Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies 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 Articulating Corporate Values Through Human Resource Policies 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 Hr Policies needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
