Swot Analysis of "Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations" written by James K. Sebenius includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Doyle's Dealmaking facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Compensation, Hiring, Negotiations and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, there is backlash against globalization, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, technology disruption,
banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Doyle's Dealmaking, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Doyle's Dealmaking 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 Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Doyle's Dealmaking
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 Doyle's Dealmaking
Strengths Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Doyle's Dealmaking in Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations Harvard Business Review case study are -
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Doyle's Dealmaking has built up over years in its products and services combo offer has resulted in high retention of customers, lower marketing costs, and greater ability of the firm to focus on its customers.
Learning organization
- Doyle's Dealmaking 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 Doyle's Dealmaking is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Doyle's Dealmaking 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 Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Doyle's Dealmaking 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
– Doyle's Dealmaking is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
High brand equity
– Doyle's Dealmaking has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Doyle's Dealmaking to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Doyle's Dealmaking is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Doyle's Dealmaking to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Doyle's Dealmaking to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Doyle's Dealmaking 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
– Doyle's Dealmaking has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Doyle's Dealmaking 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Doyle's Dealmaking in the sector have low bargaining power. Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Doyle's Dealmaking to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Doyle's Dealmaking products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Doyle's Dealmaking needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Need for greater diversity
– Doyle's Dealmaking 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Doyle's Dealmaking 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations, in the dynamic environment Doyle's Dealmaking has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Doyle's Dealmaking has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations 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 Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Doyle's Dealmaking is planning to shift buying processes online.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Doyle's Dealmaking 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 - Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations 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 Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations, it seems that the employees of Doyle's Dealmaking 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Doyle's Dealmaking is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Doyle's Dealmaking needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Doyle's Dealmaking to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Doyle's Dealmaking 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations 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 Doyle's Dealmaking has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Doyle's Dealmaking has borrowed money from the capital market at higher rates. It needs to restructure the interest payment and costs so that it can compete better and improve profitability.
Opportunities Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations | 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 Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations are -
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Doyle's Dealmaking 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Doyle's Dealmaking can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Manufacturing automation
– Doyle's Dealmaking 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.
Changes in consumer behavior post Covid-19
– Consumer behavior has changed in the Strategy & Execution industry because of Covid-19 restrictions. Some of this behavior will stay once things get back to normal. Doyle's Dealmaking 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. Doyle's Dealmaking 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Doyle's Dealmaking 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 Strategy & Execution segment.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Doyle's Dealmaking to increase its market reach. Doyle's Dealmaking 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Doyle's Dealmaking 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, Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– Doyle's Dealmaking 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Doyle's Dealmaking has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Doyle's Dealmaking to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Doyle's Dealmaking 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Doyle's Dealmaking has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Doyle's Dealmaking to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations case study. Doyle's Dealmaking can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 Doyle's Dealmaking in the consumer business. Now Doyle's Dealmaking can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Doyle's Dealmaking can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Doyle's Dealmaking operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Threats Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations are -
Consumer confidence and its impact on Doyle's Dealmaking 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Doyle's Dealmaking with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Doyle's Dealmaking.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Doyle's Dealmaking is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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.
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 Doyle's Dealmaking in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Environmental challenges
– Doyle's Dealmaking 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. Doyle's Dealmaking can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Doyle's Dealmaking 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Doyle's Dealmaking 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.
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.
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 Doyle's Dealmaking business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Doyle's Dealmaking
– 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 Doyle's Dealmaking.
Regulatory challenges
– Doyle's Dealmaking needs to prepare for regulatory challenges as consumer protection groups and other pressure groups are vigorously advocating for more regulations on big business - to reduce inequality, to create a level playing field, to product data privacy and consumer privacy, to reduce the influence of big money on democratic institutions, etc. This can lead to significant changes in the Strategy & Execution industry regulations.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations 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 Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations 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 Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations 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 Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations 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 Doyle's Dealmaking Dilemma (B): Final Negotiations 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 Doyle's Dealmaking needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
