Swot Analysis of "Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B)" written by Lyn Purdy, Ken Mark includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that W14584 Arsenal facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B) case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, 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 (B) casestudy better are - – talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing transportation and logistics costs, increasing commodity prices, geopolitical disruptions,
technology disruption, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B)
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 (B) case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the W14584 Arsenal, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which W14584 Arsenal 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 (B) can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B) case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of W14584 Arsenal
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 W14584 Arsenal
Strengths Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B) | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of W14584 Arsenal in Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B) Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B) firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled W14584 Arsenal to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped W14584 Arsenal to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Highly skilled collaborators
– W14584 Arsenal 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 (B) HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Diverse revenue streams
– W14584 Arsenal is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B) 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of W14584 Arsenal in the sector have low bargaining power. Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B) has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps W14584 Arsenal to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– W14584 Arsenal 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– W14584 Arsenal 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 (B) - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– W14584 Arsenal has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled W14584 Arsenal to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Successful track record of launching new products
– W14584 Arsenal has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. W14584 Arsenal 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– W14584 Arsenal is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B) are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the W14584 Arsenal 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 W14584 Arsenal digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. W14584 Arsenal has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Training and development
– W14584 Arsenal 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 (B) 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.
Weaknesses Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B) | 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 (B) are -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B) 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 (B) can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as W14584 Arsenal is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 W14584 Arsenal supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B), it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left W14584 Arsenal vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
W14584 Arsenal 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of W14584 Arsenal products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, W14584 Arsenal needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though W14584 Arsenal 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 (B) should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Need for greater diversity
– W14584 Arsenal 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, W14584 Arsenal 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B) 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 W14584 Arsenal has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B), is just above the industry average. W14584 Arsenal 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B), 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at W14584 Arsenal 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.
Opportunities Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B) | 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 (B) are -
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for W14584 Arsenal 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 W14584 Arsenal to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. W14584 Arsenal 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. W14584 Arsenal 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.
Buying journey improvements
– W14584 Arsenal can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B) 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– W14584 Arsenal 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 Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B) - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help W14584 Arsenal to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for W14584 Arsenal 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.
Manufacturing automation
– W14584 Arsenal 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.
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. W14584 Arsenal can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Loyalty marketing
– W14584 Arsenal 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at W14584 Arsenal 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of W14584 Arsenal has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help W14584 Arsenal to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B) case study. W14584 Arsenal can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, 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 W14584 Arsenal 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.
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. W14584 Arsenal can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– W14584 Arsenal 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 Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B) 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 (B) are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, W14584 Arsenal 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 (B) .
Environmental challenges
– W14584 Arsenal 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. W14584 Arsenal can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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 W14584 Arsenal business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– W14584 Arsenal has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, W14584 Arsenal 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.
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. W14584 Arsenal 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.
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.
Increasing wage structure of W14584 Arsenal
– 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 W14584 Arsenal.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents W14584 Arsenal 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 W14584 Arsenal.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– W14584 Arsenal 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– W14584 Arsenal 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for W14584 Arsenal 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B), W14584 Arsenal may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Military Arsenal Systems: Preparing to Lead a Team (B) 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 (B) 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 (B) 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 (B) 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 (B) 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 W14584 Arsenal needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.