The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER
A two-party negotiation between an Agent representing a new author and an Editor at a large Publishing Firm. The exercise involves a 1-issue, zero-sum negotiation concerning the advance on royalties that the publisher will pay to the author.
Swot Analysis of "The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER" written by Deepak Malhotra, Max H. Bazerman includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Publisher Author facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Negotiations and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing transportation and logistics costs, wage bills are increasing, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, there is backlash against globalization, geopolitical disruptions,
technology disruption, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Publisher Author, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Publisher Author 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 The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Publisher Author
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 Publisher Author
Strengths The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Publisher Author in The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Publisher Author 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 The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Publisher Author 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Publisher Author to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Publisher Author to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Publisher Author has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Publisher Author 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.
Training and development
– Publisher Author has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Publisher Author is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Publisher Author digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Publisher Author 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.
Organizational Resilience of Publisher Author
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Publisher Author does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Diverse revenue streams
– Publisher Author is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER 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.
Analytics focus
– Publisher Author 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 Deepak Malhotra, Max H. Bazerman 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)
– Publisher Author 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 The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Publisher Author is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Weaknesses The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER are -
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Deepak Malhotra, Max H. Bazerman suggests that, Publisher Author 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER, in the dynamic environment Publisher Author has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Publisher Author has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Publisher Author, firm in the HBR case study The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER, is just above the industry average. Publisher Author 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Publisher Author 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Publisher Author is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Publisher Author needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Publisher Author to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Publisher Author is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER, 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER, it seems that the employees of Publisher Author 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER 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 Publisher Author 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Publisher Author products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Publisher Author needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER | 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 The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Publisher Author 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, The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Publisher Author can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Publisher Author operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Finding new ways to collaborate
– Covid-19 has not only transformed business models of companies in Strategy & Execution industry, but it has also influenced the consumer preferences. Publisher Author can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Publisher Author has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Publisher Author to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER case study. Publisher Author can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Publisher Author is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Publisher Author 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
– Publisher Author can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER 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
– Publisher Author 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 The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Publisher Author to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Use of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies for transactions
– The popularity of Bitcoin and other crypto currencies as asset class and medium of transaction has opened new opportunities for Publisher Author in the consumer business. Now Publisher Author can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Publisher Author to increase its market reach. Publisher Author 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
– Publisher Author 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Publisher Author can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Publisher Author 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.
Threats The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER are -
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 Publisher Author business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Publisher Author with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Publisher Author 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Publisher Author 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 The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER .
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 Publisher Author.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Publisher Author has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Publisher Author 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.
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 Publisher Author in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Publisher Author 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.
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. Publisher Author can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Regulatory challenges
– Publisher Author 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER, Publisher Author 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 .
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.
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. Publisher Author needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER 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 The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER 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 The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER 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 The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER 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 The Book Deal: Confidential Instructions for the PUBLISHER 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 Publisher Author needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
