Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts?
In recent years, infrastructure promoters have become interested in translating the Toyota lean management paradigm into new infrastructure development projects. This approach assumes client and project suppliers are willing to work cooperatively. To enable this prerequisite, clients have started to experiment with relational contracts. An empirical study on the use of a relational contract in the A?4.2bn extension of Heathrow airport in London confirms, however, the old adage that the devil is in the details. Unarguably, relational contracts enable the project client and suppliers to work together for a common purpose. However, the interwoven ways in which the client implements the contract-writing up the commercial details, as well as adjusting and interpreting these details throughout the project-are critical to encourage the suppliers to work cooperatively and meet the expectations of the client. This study unpacks five factors for making relational contracts work in projects: suppliers are keen to reap reputation benefits from project participation; suppliers have flexibility in their production processes; client and suppliers choose the right people for the jobs; client learns to relationally contract in response to supplier feedback; and client aligns its practices to control and improve performance with the suppliers' skills.
Swot Analysis of "Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts?" written by Nuno Gil includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Relational Client facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Negotiations, Project management and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? casestudy better are - – customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization,
geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Relational Client, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Relational Client 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 Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Relational Client
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 Relational Client
Strengths Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Relational Client in Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Relational Client is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Organizational Resilience of Relational Client
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Relational Client does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Relational Client 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 Nuno Gil 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Relational Client is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Relational Client digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Relational Client 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Relational Client is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? case study a diverse revenue stream that has helped it to survive disruptions such as global pandemic in Covid-19, financial disruption of 2008, and supply chain disruption of 2021.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Relational Client is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Relational Client 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.
High brand equity
– Relational Client has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Relational Client to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Relational Client 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 Relational Client in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Relational Client 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 Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Relational Client 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, Relational Client 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Relational Client is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Relational Client needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Relational Client to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
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 Relational Client supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Relational Client vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Lack of clear differentiation of Relational Client products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Relational Client needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? HBR case study mentions - Relational Client takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? 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 Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Relational Client is planning to shift buying processes online.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Relational Client, firm in the HBR case study Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Relational Client is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts?, 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Relational Client 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 Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? | 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 Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Relational Client 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Relational Client 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 Relational Client to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Relational Client 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Relational Client to increase its market reach. Relational Client will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
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. Relational Client 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. Relational Client 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Relational Client 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Relational Client 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Relational Client is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? 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.
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. Relational Client can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– Relational Client 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 Relational Client has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Relational Client to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? case study. Relational Client can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Relational Client can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Relational Client 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.
Threats Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Relational Client has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Relational Client 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.
Increasing wage structure of Relational Client
– 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 Relational Client.
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 Relational Client business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Relational Client 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 Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Relational Client can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Relational Client 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Relational Client with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Relational Client in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Relational Client is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Relational Client 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.
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. Relational Client 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Relational Client 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
– Relational Client 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? 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 Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? 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 Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? 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 Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? 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 Developing Cooperative Project Client-Supplier Relationships: How Much to Expect from Relational Contracts? 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 Relational Client needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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