Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks
This is an MIT Sloan Management Review article. How do managers at firms that compete primarily in local markets stay abreast of broader industry trends and innovations? Highlights an interesting way in which managers at some smaller regional firms in the United States seek to combat forces of inertia and myopia in their businesses: by networking with managers of noncompeting firms that operate in the same industry but in other geographic regions. The authors call these networks "industry peer networks" (IPNs) and have conducted research into how common such networks are and how they function. In the United States, IPNs originated in the auto retailing industry in 1947, when an owner of several auto dealerships began bringing managers from those dealerships together to exchange ideas. The concept spread both geographically and into a number of other industries, and IPNs now exist in businesses ranging from advertising agencies to office furniture distributors. A typical IPN consists of a number of small groups, each containing no more than 20 managers from noncompeting companies. These groups usually have face-to-face meetings two to four times a year to discuss management issues; they often share confidential financial data with each other as well.
Swot Analysis of "Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks" written by Stoyan V. Sgourev, Ezra Zuckerman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ipns Noncompeting facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation, Knowledge management, Networking and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing commodity prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ipns Noncompeting, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ipns Noncompeting 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 Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ipns Noncompeting
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 Ipns Noncompeting
Strengths Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ipns Noncompeting in Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Ipns Noncompeting
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ipns Noncompeting does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Innovation driven organization
– Ipns Noncompeting is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ipns Noncompeting 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 Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Ipns Noncompeting 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 Ipns Noncompeting in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ipns Noncompeting 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 Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ipns Noncompeting 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ipns Noncompeting is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ipns Noncompeting 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ipns Noncompeting in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ipns Noncompeting is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks 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
- Ipns Noncompeting 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 Ipns Noncompeting is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks are -
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks 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 Ipns Noncompeting has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ipns Noncompeting 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 - Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks, in the dynamic environment Ipns Noncompeting has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ipns Noncompeting 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, Ipns Noncompeting 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 Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks 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 Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ipns Noncompeting is planning to shift buying processes online.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ipns Noncompeting products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ipns Noncompeting needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Ipns Noncompeting supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ipns Noncompeting vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks 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 Ipns Noncompeting 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Organizational Development strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks HBR case study mentions - Ipns Noncompeting 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks, it seems that the employees of Ipns Noncompeting don’t have comprehensive understanding of the firm’s strategy. This is reflected in number of promotional campaigns over the last few years that had mixed messaging and competing priorities. Some of the strategic activities and services promoted in the promotional campaigns were not consistent with the organization’s strategy.
Opportunities Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks | 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 Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ipns Noncompeting 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
– Ipns Noncompeting 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 Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ipns Noncompeting to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ipns Noncompeting 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.
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. Ipns Noncompeting 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. Ipns Noncompeting 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Ipns Noncompeting can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks 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.
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. Ipns Noncompeting can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ipns Noncompeting 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 Ipns Noncompeting to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ipns Noncompeting 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ipns Noncompeting 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, Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ipns Noncompeting can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ipns Noncompeting operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ipns Noncompeting 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.
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 Ipns Noncompeting in the consumer business. Now Ipns Noncompeting can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Ipns Noncompeting 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.
Threats Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ipns Noncompeting with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Ipns Noncompeting.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ipns Noncompeting 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ipns Noncompeting 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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Ipns Noncompeting 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.
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. Ipns Noncompeting needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Ipns Noncompeting 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. Ipns Noncompeting can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Increasing wage structure of Ipns Noncompeting
– 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 Ipns Noncompeting.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ipns Noncompeting has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ipns Noncompeting 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.
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. Ipns Noncompeting 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.
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. Ipns Noncompeting can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks 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 Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks 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 Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks 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 Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks 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 Improving Capabilities Through Industry Peer Networks 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 Ipns Noncompeting needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
