HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee
Accompanied by product #PON254Two-party, multi-issue negotiation between a human resources director and a prospective employee over terms of hire that highlight cultural differences. This is a negotiation between a recently hired computer programmer and a Human Resources Director regarding the new employee's salary, benefits, and start date. This is a role play case.
Swot Analysis of "HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee" written by Robert Smith, Ericka Gray includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Prospective Pon254two facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Conflict, Negotiations, Personnel policies and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, there is backlash against globalization, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing energy prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Prospective Pon254two, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Prospective Pon254two 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 HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Prospective Pon254two
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 Prospective Pon254two
Strengths HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Prospective Pon254two in HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee Harvard Business Review case study are -
Analytics focus
– Prospective Pon254two 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 Robert Smith, Ericka Gray 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 switching costs
– The high switching costs that Prospective Pon254two 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Prospective Pon254two 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 Prospective Pon254two in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Organizational Resilience of Prospective Pon254two
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Prospective Pon254two does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Prospective Pon254two digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Prospective Pon254two 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Prospective Pon254two has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Prospective Pon254two 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Prospective Pon254two is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Prospective Pon254two 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 HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Prospective Pon254two in the sector have low bargaining power. HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Prospective Pon254two to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Prospective Pon254two 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.
Training and development
– Prospective Pon254two has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee 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
- Prospective Pon254two 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 Prospective Pon254two is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee, 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Prospective Pon254two 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee, it seems that the employees of Prospective Pon254two 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Prospective Pon254two 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee 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 Prospective Pon254two 's lucrative customers.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee, is just above the industry average. Prospective Pon254two 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Prospective Pon254two is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Prospective Pon254two needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Prospective Pon254two to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee HBR case study mentions - Prospective Pon254two 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Prospective Pon254two 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, Prospective Pon254two 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 HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee, in the dynamic environment Prospective Pon254two has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Prospective Pon254two has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Opportunities HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee | 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 HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee are -
Buying journey improvements
– Prospective Pon254two can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Prospective Pon254two can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Prospective Pon254two operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Prospective Pon254two 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, HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Prospective Pon254two 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.
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 Prospective Pon254two 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. Prospective Pon254two 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. Prospective Pon254two 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.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Prospective Pon254two to increase its market reach. Prospective Pon254two 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Prospective Pon254two 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Prospective Pon254two 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Prospective Pon254two 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Prospective Pon254two 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Prospective Pon254two has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Prospective Pon254two to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee case study. Prospective Pon254two can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Prospective Pon254two 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 Prospective Pon254two to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Threats HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Prospective Pon254two 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 HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee .
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 Prospective Pon254two in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Prospective Pon254two 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.
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 Prospective Pon254two.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Prospective Pon254two 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.
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. Prospective Pon254two needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Regulatory challenges
– Prospective Pon254two 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.
Environmental challenges
– Prospective Pon254two 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. Prospective Pon254two can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Easy access to finance
– Easy access to finance in Strategy & Execution field will also reduce the barriers to entry in the industry, thus putting downward pressure on the prices because of increasing competition. Prospective Pon254two can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Prospective Pon254two 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Prospective Pon254two 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.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Backlash against dominant players
– US Congress and other legislative arms of the government are getting tough on big business especially technology companies. The digital arm of Prospective Pon254two business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee 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 HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee 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 HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee 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 HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee 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 HIRING A NEWTONIAN - Confidential Instructions for the Prospective Employee 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 Prospective Pon254two needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
