Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A)
In March 2010, a newly promoted engineering area manager at Military Arsenal Systems, a Vancouver-based defence contractor, has just become team leader for a key program at the firm. His biggest challenge is how to lead his team, given that he is dealing with a range of personalities and the fact that he was a peer before he became their leader. How can he prove himself to be an effective leader not only to his team but to senior management? Can he rally the team quickly enough to meet the stringent deadlines for supplying the sophisticated armoured vehicles contracted by the U.S. Army for its mission in Afghanistan?
Swot Analysis of "Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A)" written by Lyn Purdy, Ken Mark includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Arsenal Team facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Decision making, Leadership, Operations management, Organizational culture, Project management and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, technology disruption, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing commodity prices, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, geopolitical disruptions,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A)
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Arsenal Team, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Arsenal Team 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 Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Arsenal Team
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 Arsenal Team
Strengths Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Arsenal Team in Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Training and development
– Arsenal Team has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) Harvard Business Review case study by analyzing – employees retention, in-house promotion, loyalty, new venture initiation, lack of conflict, and high level of both employees and customer engagement.
Diverse revenue streams
– Arsenal Team is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Arsenal Team 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 Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Strong track record of project management
– Arsenal Team is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Arsenal Team 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 Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Arsenal Team 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 Lyn Purdy, Ken Mark 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.
High brand equity
– Arsenal Team has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Arsenal Team to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Arsenal Team is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Arsenal Team in the sector have low bargaining power. Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Arsenal Team to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Innovation driven organization
– Arsenal Team is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Arsenal Team 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 Arsenal Team in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Arsenal Team digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Arsenal Team 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.
Weaknesses Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) HBR case study mentions - Arsenal Team 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Arsenal Team, firm in the HBR case study Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Arsenal Team 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Arsenal Team 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Lyn Purdy, Ken Mark suggests that, Arsenal Team 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Arsenal Team 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 - Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) 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, Arsenal Team 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A), it seems that the employees of Arsenal Team 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 Arsenal Team is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Arsenal Team needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Arsenal Team to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) 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 Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Arsenal Team is planning to shift buying processes online.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A), is just above the industry average. Arsenal Team needs to redesign the compensation structure and incentives to increase the revenue per employees. Some of the steps that it can take are – hiring more specialists on project basis, etc.
Opportunities Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) | 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 Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Arsenal Team is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Arsenal Team has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Arsenal Team to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) case study. Arsenal Team can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Arsenal Team can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Arsenal Team can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) 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 Arsenal Team 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 Arsenal Team to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Arsenal Team can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Arsenal Team operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Arsenal Team 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.
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 Arsenal Team 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. Arsenal Team 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. Arsenal Team 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Arsenal Team can still utilize the low interest rates to borrow money for capital investment. Secondly it can also use the increase of government spending in infrastructure projects to get new business.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Arsenal Team 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Arsenal Team to increase its market reach. Arsenal Team 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.
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. Arsenal Team can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) are -
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Arsenal Team has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Arsenal Team 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Arsenal Team 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. Arsenal Team needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Arsenal Team 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 Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) .
Regulatory challenges
– Arsenal Team 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Arsenal Team 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.
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. Arsenal Team 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Arsenal Team 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Arsenal Team 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 Arsenal Team.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Arsenal Team 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.
Environmental challenges
– Arsenal Team 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. Arsenal Team can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) 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 Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) 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 Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) 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 Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) 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 Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (A) 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 Arsenal Team needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
