Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign
Hospital CEO Paul Levy confronts an SEIU unionization drive via a "corporate campaign" aimed at undercutting the hospital's relationships with key internal and external constituencies. Having shepherded one of Boston's top teaching hospitals much of the way through a painful turnaround, but with the hospital still in a fragile financial condition, Levy must formulate a strategy and tactics to deal with the impending initiative by the SEIU, the fastest growing union in the United States with 2.1 million members and a huge organizing budget. The union will likely seek the hospital's agreement to a "neutrality agreement," under which, unlike traditional union processes, management would effectively be silenced during the organizing process. Levy is concerned that the hospital's strategy of innovation and flexibility would be imperiled by an SEIU-unionized workforce.
Swot Analysis of "Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign" written by James K. Sebenius includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Levy Seiu facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Labor, Negotiations, Strategy and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, geopolitical disruptions, there is backlash against globalization,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Levy Seiu, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Levy Seiu 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 Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Levy Seiu
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 Levy Seiu
Strengths Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Levy Seiu in Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Levy Seiu 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Levy Seiu is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Levy Seiu is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Levy Seiu has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Levy Seiu to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Levy Seiu
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Levy Seiu does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Levy Seiu 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 Levy Seiu is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Levy Seiu to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Levy Seiu to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Levy Seiu 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 Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Levy Seiu 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 Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Levy Seiu in the sector have low bargaining power. Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Levy Seiu to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Levy Seiu digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Levy Seiu 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.
Weaknesses Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign, is just above the industry average. Levy Seiu 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign 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 Levy Seiu 's lucrative customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Levy Seiu has taken concrete steps on diversity, equity, and inclusion. But the efforts so far has resulted in limited success. It needs to expand the recruitment and selection process to hire more people from the minorities and underprivileged background.
High 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 Levy Seiu supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Levy Seiu vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Levy Seiu 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign 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 Levy Seiu has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Levy Seiu has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign, 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Levy Seiu 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 - Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Levy Seiu 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Levy Seiu is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign | 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 Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign are -
Manufacturing automation
– Levy Seiu 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Levy Seiu 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.
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. Levy Seiu can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Buying journey improvements
– Levy Seiu can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Levy Seiu 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.
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. Levy Seiu 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. Levy Seiu 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Levy Seiu 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Levy Seiu 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, Levy Seiu is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign 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 Levy Seiu 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Levy Seiu 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 Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Levy Seiu to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Levy Seiu 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Levy Seiu can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Threats Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign are -
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign, Levy Seiu may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Organizational Development .
Increasing wage structure of Levy Seiu
– 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 Levy Seiu.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Levy Seiu 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 Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign .
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 Levy Seiu.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Levy Seiu 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Levy Seiu 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Levy Seiu 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.
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. Levy Seiu needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Levy Seiu with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Levy Seiu is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Regulatory challenges
– Levy Seiu 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.
Environmental challenges
– Levy Seiu 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. Levy Seiu can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign 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 Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign 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 Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign 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 Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign 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 Paul Levy: Confronting a Corporate Campaign 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 Levy Seiu needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
