Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange
The Reinhard Mohn Fellowship is an initiative of Bertelsmann AG. It reflects Bertelsmann's ongoing commitment to fostering social, cultural, and individual development by aiming to reward and sponsor people with leadership qualities who have demonstrated enterprise, creativity, and entrepreneurial spirit. Provides for up to five social entrepreneurs from all over the world to be selected from a group of applicants to undertake a one-year program, offering them the opportunity to experience corporate culture, work on projects in various divisions, and build networks within Bertelsmann's global group of media companies. The idea behind the initiative is not only to provide a unique opportunity to socially innovative young entrepreneurs, but also to allow the company to benefit from their contrasting points of view and differing sets of experiences. Aims at stimulating students to think about innovative ways in which companies can contribute to society. Also allows for a discussion of the process of gaining and keeping momentum for social initiatives within large companies. Questions which might be posed include: Who benefits from the initiative? Is the program a success? Can its impact be measured? and, above all, Can it be replicated or provide a role model for other companies? In particular, allows for an interesting discussion of corporate responsibility initiatives in privately held companies.
Swot Analysis of "Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange" written by K. Ganly, Johanna Mair includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Reinhard Mohn facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Mergers & acquisitions, Organizational culture, Social responsibility and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, technology disruption, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Reinhard Mohn, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Reinhard Mohn 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 Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Reinhard Mohn
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 Reinhard Mohn
Strengths Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Reinhard Mohn in Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Reinhard Mohn has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Reinhard Mohn 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Reinhard Mohn is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Innovation driven organization
– Reinhard Mohn is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Reinhard Mohn 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 Reinhard Mohn in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Reinhard Mohn
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Reinhard Mohn does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Reinhard Mohn in the sector have low bargaining power. Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Reinhard Mohn to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Reinhard Mohn 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 Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange - 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 recruit top talent
– Reinhard Mohn is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Reinhard Mohn digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Reinhard Mohn 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.
Analytics focus
– Reinhard Mohn 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 K. Ganly, Johanna Mair 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.
Weaknesses Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Reinhard Mohn 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange, in the dynamic environment Reinhard Mohn has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Reinhard Mohn has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Reinhard Mohn is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Reinhard Mohn needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Reinhard Mohn to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, K. Ganly, Johanna Mair suggests that, Reinhard Mohn is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Reinhard Mohn 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 - Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Reinhard Mohn supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Reinhard Mohn vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Reinhard Mohn, firm in the HBR case study Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Reinhard Mohn 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange, 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange, it seems that the employees of Reinhard Mohn 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Reinhard Mohn 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.
Opportunities Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange | 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 Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Reinhard Mohn is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Reinhard Mohn 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.
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 Reinhard Mohn 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Reinhard Mohn 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, Reinhard Mohn 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.
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 Reinhard Mohn in the consumer business. Now Reinhard Mohn can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Reinhard Mohn can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Reinhard Mohn 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 Reinhard Mohn to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Reinhard Mohn can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Reinhard Mohn 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Reinhard Mohn 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. Reinhard Mohn 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. Reinhard Mohn 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Reinhard Mohn can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Reinhard Mohn operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Threats Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Reinhard Mohn with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Reinhard Mohn can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Reinhard Mohn 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.
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 Reinhard Mohn business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Reinhard Mohn.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Reinhard Mohn 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.
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 Reinhard Mohn in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Reinhard Mohn 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. Reinhard Mohn needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing wage structure of Reinhard Mohn
– 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 Reinhard Mohn.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Reinhard Mohn 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 Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Reinhard Mohn is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange, Reinhard Mohn 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 Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange 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 Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange 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 Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange 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 Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange 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 Bertelsmann Reinhard Mohn Fellowship: CSR as Cultural Exchange 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 Reinhard Mohn needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
