Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals'
After the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States, President George W. Bush launched a military offensive in Afghanistan, which led to the capture of Al Qaeda operatives thought to be behind the attacks. Top US officials debated how to extract crucial information from them about Al Qaeda's future plans. The Central Intelligence Agency wanted to apply aggressive interrogation methods, which it argued were necessary to convince detainees to reveal what they knew. But CIA officials worried such techniques might violate both international treaties banning torture and "cruel, inhuman or degrading" treatment of prisoners of war and detainees and, more consequentially, the domestic laws that enforced them. To protect its agents, the CIA sought a clear statement from the Bush Administration on how far agents could go in efforts to force detainees to talk. These cases tell the story of OLC's legal findings and their consequences. Part A (1853.0)describes a series of OLC memoranda on the treatment of detainees in the "war on terror," culminating in an August 2002 opinion that became known as the "torture memo," which narrowly interpreted the legal meaning of torture but took a broad view of presidential wartime powers under the Constitution. Part A ends as Assistant Attorney General and OLC head Jay Bybee must decide whether to sign the opinion. Part B (1854.0) tracks the results of the torture memo, tracing the use of interrogation techniques it sanctioned from CIA detention centers overseas to the naval base in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In the view of some, these harsher techniques eventually "migrated" to Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, where abusive treatment of detainees became an international embarrassment for the US. HKS Case Number 1853.0
Swot Analysis of "Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals'" written by Esther Scott, Philip Heymann includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Detainees Torture facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Operations management, Regulation, Security & privacy, Social responsibility and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' casestudy better are - – central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption,
wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals'
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Detainees Torture, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Detainees Torture 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 Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Detainees Torture
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 Detainees Torture
Strengths Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Detainees Torture in Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Detainees Torture is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Detainees Torture 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.
Training and development
– Detainees Torture has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' 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.
Learning organization
- Detainees Torture 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 Detainees Torture is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Detainees Torture 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 Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Detainees Torture is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Detainees Torture has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Detainees Torture 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Detainees Torture 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 lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Detainees Torture 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 Detainees Torture in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Detainees Torture to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Detainees Torture to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Detainees Torture is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' are -
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' 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 Detainees Torture 's lucrative customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals', 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' HBR case study mentions - Detainees Torture 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals', is just above the industry average. Detainees Torture needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' 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 Detainees Torture has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Detainees Torture 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Detainees Torture 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Detainees Torture 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals', in the dynamic environment Detainees Torture has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Detainees Torture has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Detainees Torture supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals', it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Detainees Torture vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Detainees Torture 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 - Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Opportunities Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' | 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 Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Detainees Torture to increase its market reach. Detainees Torture 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.
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. Detainees Torture can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Detainees Torture in the consumer business. Now Detainees Torture can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Detainees Torture 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Detainees Torture can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Detainees Torture operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Detainees Torture can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
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 Detainees Torture 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Detainees Torture is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Detainees Torture 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 Detainees Torture to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Loyalty marketing
– Detainees Torture 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Detainees Torture can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Detainees Torture 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, Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals', to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Detainees Torture 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.
Threats Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' are -
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Detainees Torture is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Detainees Torture has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Detainees Torture needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution 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.
Environmental challenges
– Detainees Torture 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. Detainees Torture can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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. Detainees Torture 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Detainees Torture in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution 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 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Detainees Torture 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 international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Detainees Torture 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 Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' .
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 Detainees Torture in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing wage structure of Detainees Torture
– 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 Detainees Torture.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Detainees Torture 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.
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. Detainees Torture needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution 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 Detainees Torture.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' 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 Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' 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 Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' 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 Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' 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 Defining Torture in the War on Terror (A): 'Checking with the Professionals' 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 Detainees Torture needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.