Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project?
Los Angeles' hottest series of avant garde "mind-engaging" events has been both growing and struggling for over five years, gaining national attention for their cutting-edge speakers, but just barely earning enough revenues to get by. How can the dynamic creator and his latest collection of volunteer executives turn this from a successful hobby into a real business?
Swot Analysis of "Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project?" written by Jeremy Dann, Jayson Gasper includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Garde L.a facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Creativity, Entrepreneurship, Organizational structure and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Garde L.a, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Garde L.a 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 Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Garde L.a
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 Garde L.a
Strengths Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Garde L.a in Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? 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.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Garde L.a 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 Garde L.a in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Garde L.a digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Garde L.a 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.
High brand equity
– Garde L.a has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Garde L.a to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Analytics focus
– Garde L.a 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 Jeremy Dann, Jayson Gasper 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Garde L.a in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Garde L.a is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Garde L.a has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Innovation driven organization
– Garde L.a is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? 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)
– Garde L.a 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 Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? - 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 Garde L.a 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.
Training and development
– Garde L.a has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? 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.
Weaknesses Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Garde L.a 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project?, it seems that the employees of Garde L.a 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Garde L.a is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Garde L.a products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Garde L.a needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Garde L.a 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 Garde L.a supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Garde L.a vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Garde L.a is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Garde L.a needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Garde L.a to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Garde L.a 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 - Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? 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 Garde L.a has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? 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 Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Garde L.a is planning to shift buying processes online.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Garde L.a 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.
Opportunities Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? | 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 Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? are -
Loyalty marketing
– Garde L.a 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.
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. Garde L.a 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. Garde L.a 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
– Garde L.a can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Garde L.a 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.
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 Garde L.a in the consumer business. Now Garde L.a can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Garde L.a 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 Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Garde L.a to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Garde L.a 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 Garde L.a to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Garde L.a can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Garde L.a 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, Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Garde L.a can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Garde L.a is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Garde L.a 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.
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. Garde L.a can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? are -
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. Garde L.a 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.
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 Garde L.a.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Garde L.a 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.
Environmental challenges
– Garde L.a 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. Garde L.a can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
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.
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 Garde L.a business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Garde L.a has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Garde L.a 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project?, Garde L.a 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 .
Regulatory challenges
– Garde L.a 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Garde L.a 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. Garde L.a needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Garde L.a 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.
Increasing wage structure of Garde L.a
– 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 Garde L.a.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? 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 Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? 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 Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? 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 Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? 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 Mindshare L.A.: Is this a Business...Or is this a Project? 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 Garde L.a needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.