Swot Analysis of "PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B)" written by Sonya Grier, Donnel A. Briley includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Phd Faculty facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Currency, Diversity, Education, Marketing, Social responsibility and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) casestudy better are - – digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Phd Faculty, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Phd Faculty 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 PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Phd Faculty
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Sales & Marketing field.
4. Making a Sales & Marketing topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Phd Faculty
Strengths PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Phd Faculty in PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Phd Faculty 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.
Learning organization
- Phd Faculty 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 Phd Faculty is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Phd Faculty
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Phd Faculty does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Training and development
– Phd Faculty has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) 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.
High brand equity
– Phd Faculty has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Phd Faculty to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Strong track record of project management
– Phd Faculty is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Phd Faculty in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Phd Faculty has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Phd Faculty 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Sales & Marketing industry
– PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Phd Faculty to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Phd Faculty to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Phd Faculty is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Phd Faculty 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 PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Phd Faculty 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 Sonya Grier, Donnel A. Briley 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 PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) HBR case study mentions - Phd Faculty 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Phd Faculty, firm in the HBR case study PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Phd Faculty 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 cash cycle compare to competitors
Phd Faculty 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 Phd Faculty products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Phd Faculty needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Phd Faculty 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. Phd Faculty 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B), it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Sales & Marketing 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) 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 Phd Faculty has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B), in the dynamic environment Phd Faculty has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Phd Faculty has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Phd Faculty 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 - PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Phd Faculty is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) | 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 PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Phd Faculty to increase its market reach. Phd Faculty 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.
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 Phd Faculty 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Phd Faculty can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Phd Faculty has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Phd Faculty to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) case study. Phd Faculty can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Phd Faculty 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Sales & Marketing industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Phd Faculty 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. Phd Faculty 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
– Phd Faculty 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Phd Faculty 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 Phd Faculty to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Phd Faculty in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Sales & Marketing segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Phd Faculty 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Phd Faculty is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Phd Faculty 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, PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B), to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– Phd Faculty 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.
Threats PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Phd Faculty 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
– Phd Faculty can face lack of demand in the market place because of Fed actions to reduce inflation. This can lead to sluggish growth in the economy, lower demands, lower investments, higher borrowing costs, and consolidation in the field.
Increasing wage structure of Phd Faculty
– 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 Phd Faculty.
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. Phd Faculty needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Sales & Marketing industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Phd Faculty.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Phd Faculty 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 Sales & Marketing field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Phd Faculty can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B), Phd Faculty may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Sales & Marketing .
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 Phd Faculty in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Phd Faculty 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. Phd Faculty can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Phd Faculty 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 PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) 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 PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) 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 PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) 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 PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) 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 PhD Project: The Marketing of Business School Faculty Diversity (B) 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 Phd Faculty needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.