Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Organizational Development
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning
This is a Darden case study.How can executive education providers and purchasers best facilitate the transfer of program learning back to a participant's workplace setting? All too often, busy schedules, dealing with one crisis after another, and superseding priorities hinder such a transfer. This case is best used in a course where issues of education program design and/or adult learning are topics of interest. Similarly, it can also be a valuable addition to a course focusing on creating a learning organization and/or talent development.
Swot Analysis of "Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning" written by Mark E. Haskins includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Learning Participant's facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Organizational Development.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, increasing commodity prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices,
there is backlash against globalization, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Learning Participant's, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Learning Participant's 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 Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Learning Participant's
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 Learning Participant's
Strengths Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Learning Participant's in Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Learning Participant's has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Learning Participant's to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning 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 Learning Participant's 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.
Digital Transformation in Organizational Development segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Learning Participant's digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Learning Participant's 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.
Organizational Resilience of Learning Participant's
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Learning Participant's 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 Learning Participant's in the sector have low bargaining power. Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Learning Participant's to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Organizational Development industry
– Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Learning Participant's to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Organizational Development industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Learning Participant's to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Learning Participant's 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
– Learning Participant's has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Learning Participant's is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Learning Participant's 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 Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Learning organization
- Learning Participant's 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 Learning Participant's is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning are -
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning, is just above the industry average. Learning Participant's needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Learning Participant's 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 Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning, it seems that the employees of Learning Participant's 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Learning Participant's 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning 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 Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Learning Participant's is planning to shift buying processes online.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning has high operating costs in the. This can be harder to sustain given the new emerging competition from nimble players who are using technology to attract Learning Participant's 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Learning Participant's 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Learning Participant's 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 - Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning 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 Learning Participant's 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Learning Participant's has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Learning Participant's even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Learning Participant's has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Opportunities Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning | 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 Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Learning Participant's 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. Learning Participant's 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. Learning Participant's 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Learning Participant's 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.
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. Learning Participant's can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Manufacturing automation
– Learning Participant's 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Learning Participant's can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning 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.
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. Learning Participant's can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Learning Participant's can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Learning Participant's operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Organizational Development sector.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Learning Participant's 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Learning Participant's 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Learning Participant's has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Learning Participant's to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning case study. Learning Participant's can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Learning Participant's is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning 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.
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 Learning Participant's in the consumer business. Now Learning Participant's can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning are -
Increasing wage structure of Learning Participant's
– 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 Learning Participant's.
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Learning Participant's 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
– Learning Participant's 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. Learning Participant's can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Organizational Development industry.
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 Learning Participant's in the Organizational Development sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Learning Participant's has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Organizational Development industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Learning Participant's 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.
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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Learning Participant's 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 Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning .
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Learning Participant's is facing in Organizational Development sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Learning Participant's 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning, Learning Participant's 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Learning Participant's 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Learning Participant's 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning 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 Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning 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 Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning 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 Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning 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 Mid-Atlantic Professional Development Center: Lengthening the Half-Life of Learning 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 Learning Participant's needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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