Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business
A married couple who have a successful industrial B2B business evaluate whether or not to sell the business to two of their offspring, who are both entrepreneurial MBA graduates. Complicating factors include the fact that the sale price and structure need to finance the couple's retirement and give fair inheritance treatment to the remaining siblings. In addition, the father has had some health issues and the business is doing well, so there is a lot of forward momentum to sell to the next generation
Swot Analysis of "Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business" written by John L. Ward, Carol Adler Zsolnay includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Keddeg Offspring facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Corporate communications, Entrepreneurship, Succession planning and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business casestudy better are - – increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, geopolitical disruptions,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Keddeg Offspring, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Keddeg Offspring 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 Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Keddeg Offspring
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 Keddeg Offspring
Strengths Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Keddeg Offspring in Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business Harvard Business Review case study are -
Strong track record of project management
– Keddeg Offspring is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Keddeg Offspring 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 Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Organizational Resilience of Keddeg Offspring
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Keddeg Offspring does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Keddeg Offspring is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Keddeg Offspring 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.
Learning organization
- Keddeg Offspring 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 Keddeg Offspring is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Organizational Development field
– Keddeg Offspring 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 Keddeg Offspring in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Training and development
– Keddeg Offspring has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Keddeg Offspring to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Keddeg Offspring to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Keddeg Offspring in the sector have low bargaining power. Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Keddeg Offspring to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Keddeg Offspring has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Keddeg Offspring has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
High brand equity
– Keddeg Offspring has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Keddeg Offspring to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Keddeg Offspring is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business HBR case study mentions - Keddeg Offspring 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Keddeg Offspring is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Organizational Development segment. Keddeg Offspring needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Keddeg Offspring to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Keddeg Offspring, firm in the HBR case study Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Keddeg Offspring has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Keddeg Offspring 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Keddeg Offspring products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Keddeg Offspring needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Keddeg Offspring 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 - Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– Keddeg Offspring 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, John L. Ward, Carol Adler Zsolnay suggests that, Keddeg Offspring 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Keddeg Offspring 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.
Opportunities Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business | 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 Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business are -
Buying journey improvements
– Keddeg Offspring can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Keddeg Offspring has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Keddeg Offspring to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business case study. Keddeg Offspring can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Keddeg Offspring 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 Keddeg Offspring to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Keddeg Offspring 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Keddeg Offspring can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Keddeg Offspring operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Loyalty marketing
– Keddeg Offspring 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Keddeg Offspring can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Keddeg Offspring can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Keddeg Offspring 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Keddeg Offspring 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, Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Keddeg Offspring 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.
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. Keddeg Offspring can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Keddeg Offspring to increase its market reach. Keddeg Offspring 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.
Threats Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Keddeg Offspring has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Keddeg Offspring 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Keddeg Offspring 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business, Keddeg Offspring 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 .
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. Keddeg Offspring can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Keddeg Offspring 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 Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business .
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. Keddeg Offspring needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Organizational Development industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Keddeg Offspring 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.
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 Keddeg Offspring business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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 Keddeg Offspring in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Keddeg Offspring 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Keddeg Offspring is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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. Keddeg Offspring 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business 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 Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business 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 Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business 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 Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business 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 Keddeg Company (A): Succession to the Next Generation of Small Business 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 Keddeg Offspring needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
