Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Sales & Marketing
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium
Most of the time, the world moves forward in tiny increments, as individuals and organizations hone and refine existing models: governments modify their services in hopes of producing better results, and businesses bring out the next generation of their existing products and services. But every once in a while-backed by revolutionary thinking-the world moves forward in a huge leap to a fundamentally new equilibrium. The authors show that over time, such paradigm shifts have been driven by two entities: government policy innovation and business entrepreneurial creation. But a third driver has emerged between these two poles: social entrepreneurship. The best part: social entrepreneurship makes possible equilibrium shifts that neither government or business could achieve on their own.
Swot Analysis of "Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium" written by Roger Martin, Sally Osberg includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Equilibrium Forward facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Sales & Marketing.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, technology disruption,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, wage bills are increasing, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Equilibrium Forward, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Equilibrium Forward 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 Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Equilibrium Forward
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 Equilibrium Forward
Strengths Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Equilibrium Forward in Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium Harvard Business Review case study are -
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Equilibrium Forward 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 Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Equilibrium Forward in the sector have low bargaining power. Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Equilibrium Forward to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Equilibrium Forward are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Equilibrium Forward is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Equilibrium Forward is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Equilibrium Forward 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 Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Equilibrium Forward has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Equilibrium Forward is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Equilibrium Forward has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Equilibrium Forward 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Equilibrium Forward in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Organizational Resilience of Equilibrium Forward
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Equilibrium Forward does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High brand equity
– Equilibrium Forward has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Equilibrium Forward to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium HBR case study mentions - Equilibrium Forward 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Equilibrium Forward 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Equilibrium Forward products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Equilibrium Forward needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium, it seems that the employees of Equilibrium Forward 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Equilibrium Forward 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Equilibrium Forward, firm in the HBR case study Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium 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 Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Equilibrium Forward is planning to shift buying processes online.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium, in the dynamic environment Equilibrium Forward has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Equilibrium Forward has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium, 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Equilibrium Forward 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium, is just above the industry average. Equilibrium Forward 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.
Opportunities Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium | 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 Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium are -
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Equilibrium Forward 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 Sales & Marketing segment.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Equilibrium Forward 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, Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Equilibrium Forward 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Equilibrium Forward can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Equilibrium Forward operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Sales & Marketing sector.
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 Equilibrium Forward in the consumer business. Now Equilibrium Forward can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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 Equilibrium Forward 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Equilibrium Forward 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Equilibrium Forward can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Sales & Marketing 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.
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. Equilibrium Forward can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Equilibrium Forward can develop new processes and procedures in Sales & Marketing 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Equilibrium Forward can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Equilibrium Forward 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Equilibrium Forward 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 Equilibrium Forward to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium are -
Environmental challenges
– Equilibrium Forward 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. Equilibrium Forward can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Sales & Marketing industry.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium, Equilibrium Forward 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 .
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Equilibrium Forward 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.
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. Equilibrium Forward can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Equilibrium Forward in the Sales & Marketing sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Equilibrium Forward
– 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 Equilibrium Forward.
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 Equilibrium Forward business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Equilibrium Forward with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Equilibrium Forward 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Equilibrium Forward in the Sales & Marketing industry. The Sales & Marketing 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Equilibrium Forward has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Sales & Marketing industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Equilibrium Forward needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Sales & Marketing 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Equilibrium Forward 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 Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium 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 Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium 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 Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium 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 Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium 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 Moving the World Forward: The Quest for a New Equilibrium 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 Equilibrium Forward needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
