Case Study Description of Northlands Ledger (A): 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's and editors' 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 Both value propositions are outdated, and, even if they were what the customers wanted-which they were not, neither was being executed well.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 and formulated a new strategy of responsiveness to readers and advertisers that responded to 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 (A): 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 (A): 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 (A): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , geopolitical disruptions, increasing commodity prices, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, wage bills are increasing, technology disruption, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Northlands Ledger (A): 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 (A): 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 (A): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Northlands Ledger (A): 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 (A): 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 (A): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance Harvard Business Review case study are -
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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ledger Potter in the sector have low bargaining power. Northlands Ledger (A): 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.
Analytics focus
– Ledger Potter 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 Dewar 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Ledger Potter is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Northlands Ledger (A): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
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.
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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ledger Potter 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 Northlands Ledger (A): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ledger Potter is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Northlands Ledger (A): 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ledger Potter 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 Northlands Ledger (A): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Ledger Potter in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
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 (A): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses Northlands Ledger (A): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Northlands Ledger (A): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance are -
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Northlands Ledger (A): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance, 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ledger Potter products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ledger Potter needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Northlands Ledger (A): 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.
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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ledger Potter 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 - Northlands Ledger (A): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Ledger Potter 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Northlands Ledger (A): 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Northlands Ledger (A): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance, in the dynamic environment Ledger Potter has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Ledger Potter has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Northlands Ledger (A): 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.
Opportunities Northlands Ledger (A): 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 (A): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance are -
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.
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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Ledger Potter 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ledger Potter can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ledger Potter operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ledger Potter 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 Northlands Ledger (A): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ledger Potter to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Ledger Potter can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Northlands Ledger (A): 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.
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. Ledger Potter 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. Ledger Potter 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.
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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ledger Potter 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 Ledger Potter to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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.
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 Ledger Potter 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.
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.
Threats Northlands Ledger (A): 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 (A): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance are -
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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Ledger Potter 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.
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.
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.
Environmental challenges
– Ledger Potter 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. Ledger Potter can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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.
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. Ledger Potter needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, 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 (A): Management Style, Strategy, and Performance .
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.
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.
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.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Northlands Ledger (A): 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 (A): 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 (A): 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 (A): 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 (A): 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.
