Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X
This case is a nice prelude to the individual cases (HKS Case Number 365 and 366), which chronicle the lives and critical decisions that Martin Luther King and Malcolm X made towards improving African American rights in the United States. The text describes the last year of Martin Luther King's life and the actions of which he partook. It also chronicles Malcolm X's last month of life, noting the decisions he made. HKS Case Number 426.0.
Authors :: Richard Neustadt, Melanie Billings-Yun, Megan Jones
Swot Analysis of "Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X" written by Richard Neustadt, Melanie Billings-Yun, Megan Jones includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Luther Malcolm facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Business law, Diversity, Leadership and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X casestudy better are - – increasing transportation and logistics costs, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing energy prices, there is backlash against globalization, technology disruption,
geopolitical disruptions, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Luther Malcolm, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Luther Malcolm 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 Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Luther Malcolm
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 Luther Malcolm
Strengths Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Luther Malcolm in Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Luther Malcolm in the sector have low bargaining power. Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Luther Malcolm to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Luther Malcolm 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 Luther Malcolm is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Luther Malcolm to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Luther Malcolm to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Luther Malcolm has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Luther Malcolm 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Luther Malcolm is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X 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 Luther Malcolm
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Luther Malcolm does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Luther Malcolm has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Luther Malcolm to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Luther Malcolm 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 Richard Neustadt, Melanie Billings-Yun, Megan Jones 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Luther Malcolm has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Luther Malcolm 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Luther Malcolm 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 Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X 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.
Weaknesses Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, in the dynamic environment Luther Malcolm has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Luther Malcolm has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X 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 Luther Malcolm has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Luther Malcolm 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 - Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X 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 Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Luther Malcolm is planning to shift buying processes online.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Luther Malcolm has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Luther Malcolm 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Luther Malcolm needs to come up with a strategy to reduce the workers concern regarding automation. Without a clear strategy, it could lead to disruption and uncertainty within the organization.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Luther Malcolm 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Luther Malcolm has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Lack of clear differentiation of Luther Malcolm products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Luther Malcolm needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Luther Malcolm 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. Luther Malcolm 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.
Opportunities Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X | 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 Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X are -
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. Luther Malcolm can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Loyalty marketing
– Luther Malcolm 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Luther Malcolm has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Luther Malcolm to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X case study. Luther Malcolm can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Luther Malcolm can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Luther Malcolm operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Luther Malcolm 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Luther Malcolm 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 Luther Malcolm to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Luther Malcolm can make experimentation a productive activity and build a culture of innovation using approaches such as – mining transaction data, A/B testing of websites and selling platforms, engaging potential customers over various needs, and building on small ideas in the Organizational Development segment.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Organizational Development industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Luther Malcolm 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 Luther Malcolm can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Luther Malcolm 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Luther Malcolm 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 Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Luther Malcolm to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Manufacturing automation
– Luther Malcolm 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 Luther Malcolm in the consumer business. Now Luther Malcolm can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X are -
New competition
– After the dotcom bust of 2001, financial crisis of 2008-09, the business formation in US economy had declined. But in 2020 alone, there are more than 1.5 million new business applications in United States. This can lead to greater competition for Luther Malcolm in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Luther Malcolm 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 Luther Malcolm.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Luther Malcolm is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Luther Malcolm needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Luther Malcolm
– 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 Luther Malcolm.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Luther Malcolm 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Luther Malcolm 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Luther Malcolm 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.
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. Luther Malcolm 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.
Aging population
– As the populations of most advanced economies are aging, it will lead to high social security costs, higher savings among population, and lower demand for goods and services in the economy. The household savings in US, France, UK, Germany, and Japan are growing faster than predicted because of uncertainty caused by pandemic.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Luther Malcolm 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, Luther Malcolm 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 .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X 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 Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X 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 Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X 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 Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X 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 Fates of Martin Luther King and Malcolm X 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 Luther Malcolm needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
