Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue
On one side, a loose network of protesters made arrangements for dramatizing their opposition to the WTO and international trade practices. At the same time, public safety officials from local, state, and federal agencies developed security plans for the public areas near the locus of the ministerial meetings. Their aim was to ensure that the talks proceeded smoothly while preserving the activists' rights to peaceful protest. Throughout the planning process, local leaders operated on the assumption that the tolerant ethos of the Pacific Northwest would prevail. This assumption proved terribly wrong, however, when, on the opening day of the talks, law enforcement officials lost control of the crowds gathered outside the meeting venue. Readers are asked to consider what lessons can be drawn from this ultimately inadequate security planning process. How might security planners have thought differently about how to prepare for the conference? What should they have anticipated in advance? How could they have developed a better awareness of protesters' activities and plans? HKS Case Number 1897.1
Authors :: Arnold Howitt, Herman B. Leonard, David Tannenwald
Swot Analysis of "Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue" written by Arnold Howitt, Herman B. Leonard, David Tannenwald includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ministerial Protesters facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Decision making, Leadership, Operations management, Risk management, Security & privacy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing transportation and logistics costs, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, technology disruption, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ministerial Protesters, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ministerial Protesters 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 Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ministerial Protesters
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 Ministerial Protesters
Strengths Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ministerial Protesters in Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Ministerial Protesters is putting a lot of focus on utilizing the power of analytics in business decision making. This has put it among the leading players in the industry. The technology infrastructure suggested by Arnold Howitt, Herman B. Leonard, David Tannenwald can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Strong track record of project management
– Ministerial Protesters is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Ministerial Protesters to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Ministerial Protesters to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ministerial Protesters has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ministerial Protesters 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 Ministerial Protesters in the sector have low bargaining power. Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ministerial Protesters to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Diverse revenue streams
– Ministerial Protesters is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ministerial Protesters 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.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Ministerial Protesters digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ministerial Protesters 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Ministerial Protesters 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 Ministerial Protesters in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Ministerial Protesters 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 Ministerial Protesters is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Innovation driven organization
– Ministerial Protesters is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ministerial Protesters in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue are -
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Ministerial Protesters 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 Ministerial Protesters is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Ministerial Protesters needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ministerial Protesters to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ministerial Protesters 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ministerial Protesters products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ministerial Protesters needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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 Ministerial Protesters supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ministerial Protesters vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue 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 Ministerial Protesters has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Arnold Howitt, Herman B. Leonard, David Tannenwald suggests that, Ministerial Protesters is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue 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 Ministerial Protesters 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Ministerial Protesters has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ministerial Protesters 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 - Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ministerial Protesters 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.
Opportunities Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue | 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 Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue are -
Manufacturing automation
– Ministerial Protesters 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ministerial Protesters can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ministerial Protesters operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Buying journey improvements
– Ministerial Protesters can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ministerial Protesters 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 Ministerial Protesters to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ministerial Protesters 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ministerial Protesters 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.
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. Ministerial Protesters can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Ministerial Protesters to increase its market reach. Ministerial Protesters will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Ministerial Protesters 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.
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. Ministerial Protesters 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. Ministerial Protesters can further use this consumer data to build better customer loyalty, provide better products and service collection, and improve the value proposition in inflationary times.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ministerial Protesters 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ministerial Protesters 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 Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ministerial Protesters to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ministerial Protesters has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ministerial Protesters to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue case study. Ministerial Protesters can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue are -
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 Ministerial Protesters.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Ministerial Protesters 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.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Ministerial Protesters 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ministerial Protesters has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ministerial Protesters 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.
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.
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 Ministerial Protesters in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline 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 Ministerial Protesters business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ministerial Protesters 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 Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue .
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. Ministerial Protesters needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Environmental challenges
– Ministerial Protesters 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. Ministerial Protesters 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. Ministerial Protesters 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 Ministerial Protesters 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue 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 Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue 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 Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue 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 Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue 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 Protecting the WTO Ministerial Conference of 1999, Epilogue 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 Ministerial Protesters needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.