Case Study Description of Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance
Case (A) describes the situation at the Northlands Ledger, a newspaper on its way out of business due in large part to its publisher and editor's focus on what they do and want to keep doing rather than on what their customers (readers and advertisers) want. The value proposition to the reader is that 'we deliver the paper reliably and give you the latest national and international news'. The value proposition to the advertisers is that 'we print your ads accurately and runs them on time'. Both value propositions are outdated, and, even if they were what the customers wanted-which they are not, neither is executed well. The paper's key performance indicators-circulation, classified ads and commercial advertising are all in decline despite the fact that the community it serves is growing. The senior management of the Paulus chain that owns this paper has forced the publisher, Allison, to retire and brought another publisher, Potter, in from one of its other papers, The Sun Belt City Star, where Potter was highly successful. However, he cannot simply transfer his success formula from the Star to the Ledger. Case (B) details his efforts and may be used as a classic example of good change management and leadership practices. Potter established a clear cut set of objectives, formulated a new strategy of responsiveness to readers and advertisers more in line with finding out why they hired the paper in the first place. To implement his new strategy he terminated senior managers and others who he did not feel could contribute to the new paper, and made significant changes in key dimensions of implementation: culture, structure, information and decision support systems, incentives and human resources. Throughout he used a mix of both authoritative and participative change management-a mix that may provoke an interesting class discussion.
Swot Analysis of "Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance" written by Robert Dewar includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ledger Potter facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Leadership, Manufacturing, Organizational culture, Strategy and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing commodity prices, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, increasing transportation and logistics costs, there is backlash against globalization,
competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ledger Potter, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ledger Potter 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 Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ledger Potter
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 Ledger Potter
Strengths Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ledger Potter in Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Ledger Potter is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ledger Potter 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ledger Potter 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Ledger Potter is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ledger Potter has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ledger Potter 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
– Ledger Potter is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Ledger Potter
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ledger Potter 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 Ledger Potter digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Ledger Potter has successfully integrated the four key components of digital transformation – digital integration in processes, digital integration in marketing and customer relationship management, digital integration into the value chain, and using technology to explore new products and market opportunities.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Ledger Potter 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 Ledger Potter in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Learning organization
- Ledger Potter 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 Ledger Potter is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
High brand equity
– Ledger Potter has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ledger Potter to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ledger Potter in the sector have low bargaining power. Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ledger Potter to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Weaknesses Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ledger Potter 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ledger Potter is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Ledger Potter needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ledger Potter to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance 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 Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ledger Potter is planning to shift buying processes online.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Robert Dewar suggests that, Ledger Potter is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance 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 Ledger Potter has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Ledger Potter is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance, it seems that the employees of Ledger Potter 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Ledger Potter has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Ledger Potter even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Need for greater diversity
– Ledger Potter 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance HBR case study mentions - Ledger Potter 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance 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 Ledger Potter 's lucrative customers.
Opportunities Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance | 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 Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance are -
Loyalty marketing
– Ledger Potter 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ledger Potter 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.
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. Ledger Potter can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Ledger Potter 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.
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. Ledger Potter 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 Ledger Potter has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ledger Potter to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance case study. Ledger Potter can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Buying journey improvements
– Ledger Potter can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ledger Potter 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
– Ledger Potter 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, Ledger Potter 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.
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 Ledger Potter in the consumer business. Now Ledger Potter 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 Ledger Potter to increase its market reach. Ledger Potter 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Ledger Potter 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, Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Threats Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance are -
Regulatory challenges
– Ledger Potter 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ledger Potter 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 Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance .
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. Ledger Potter can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Ledger Potter in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ledger Potter 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.
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 Ledger Potter business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ledger Potter has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ledger Potter 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.
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 Ledger Potter.
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 Ledger Potter
– 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 Ledger Potter.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ledger Potter with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ledger Potter 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Ledger Potter is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance 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 Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance 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 Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance 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 Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance 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 Northlands Ledger (B): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance 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 Ledger Potter needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.