Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston
In 2003, Lee Stuart, who had successfully used the Nehemiah Strategy to create thousands of units of affordable housing in the South Bronx, was working with the Greater Boston Interfaith Organization to implement the strategy in Boston. She and her colleagues faced a number of challenges in transferring the strategy, with some questioning whether the strategy was appropriate for the Boston marketplace. The project was at a critical point, and key decisions had to be made regarding project direction. Teaching Purpose: To explore a model of building affordable housing and the challenge of implementing it in different communities.
Authors :: Diana Barrett, Arthur I Segel, Sheila McCarthy Leddy
Topics :: Strategy & Execution
Tags :: Economic development, Leadership, Public relations, Social enterprise, Strategy execution, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston" written by Diana Barrett, Arthur I Segel, Sheila McCarthy Leddy includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Nehemiah Boston facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Economic development, Leadership, Public relations, Social enterprise, Strategy execution and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston casestudy better are - – increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, technology disruption, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , increasing commodity prices,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Nehemiah Boston, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Nehemiah Boston 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 Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Nehemiah Boston
3. Assessing feasibility of the new initiative in Strategy & Execution field.
4. Making a Strategy & Execution topic specific business decision
5. Set goals for the organization
6. Organizational restructuring of Nehemiah Boston
Strengths Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Nehemiah Boston in Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston Harvard Business Review case study are -
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Nehemiah Boston digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Nehemiah Boston 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.
Training and development
– Nehemiah Boston has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston 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
– Nehemiah Boston has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Nehemiah Boston to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Nehemiah Boston 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Nehemiah Boston 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 Nehemiah Boston in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Nehemiah Boston 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 Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Nehemiah Boston 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 Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Learning organization
- Nehemiah Boston 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 Nehemiah Boston is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Nehemiah Boston is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Nehemiah Boston 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Nehemiah Boston has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Nehemiah Boston 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.
Weaknesses Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Nehemiah Boston 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston HBR case study mentions - Nehemiah Boston 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston 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 Nehemiah Boston has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston 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 Nehemiah Boston 's lucrative customers.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Nehemiah Boston 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Nehemiah Boston is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Nehemiah Boston needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Nehemiah Boston to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Lack of clear differentiation of Nehemiah Boston products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Nehemiah Boston needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Nehemiah Boston 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 - Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston, it seems that the employees of Nehemiah Boston 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
– Nehemiah Boston 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.
Opportunities Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston | 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 Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Nehemiah Boston is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Nehemiah Boston in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Developing new processes and practices
– Nehemiah Boston can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Nehemiah Boston 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, Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Nehemiah Boston can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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 Nehemiah Boston in the consumer business. Now Nehemiah Boston can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Nehemiah Boston has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Nehemiah Boston to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston case study. Nehemiah Boston can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Manufacturing automation
– Nehemiah Boston can use the latest technology developments to improve its manufacturing and designing process in Strategy & Execution 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Nehemiah Boston 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Nehemiah Boston 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Nehemiah Boston 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 Nehemiah Boston to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Nehemiah Boston can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Nehemiah Boston to increase its market reach. Nehemiah Boston 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 Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston are -
Increasing wage structure of Nehemiah Boston
– 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 Nehemiah Boston.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Nehemiah Boston with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Nehemiah Boston business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Nehemiah Boston 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Nehemiah Boston 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.
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 Nehemiah Boston in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Nehemiah Boston 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. Nehemiah Boston can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution 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.
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. Nehemiah Boston 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.
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 Nehemiah Boston.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Nehemiah Boston 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 Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston .
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Nehemiah Boston 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 Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston 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 Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston 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 Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston 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 Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston 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 Nehemiah Strategy: Bringing It to Boston 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 Nehemiah Boston needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.