IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic
IBM has just launched an innovation partnership with the Irish Ministry of Education to bring information technology to Irish schools. Wired for Learning was developed in the United States; how well will it be applied in Ireland?
Authors :: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, John Scannell
Topics :: Strategy & Execution
Tags :: Innovation, IT, Joint ventures, Social enterprise, Social responsibility, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic" written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, John Scannell includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Irish Ireland facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Innovation, IT, Joint ventures, Social enterprise, Social responsibility and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing energy prices, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Irish Ireland, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Irish Ireland 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 IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Irish Ireland
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 Irish Ireland
Strengths IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Irish Ireland in IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Irish Ireland 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 IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Training and development
– Irish Ireland has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Irish Ireland is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic 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 Irish Ireland
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Irish Ireland does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Irish Ireland 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 Irish Ireland in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Strong track record of project management
– Irish Ireland is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Irish Ireland to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Irish Ireland to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Irish Ireland 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Irish Ireland has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Irish Ireland 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Irish Ireland in the sector have low bargaining power. IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Irish Ireland to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Learning organization
- Irish Ireland 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 Irish Ireland is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Irish Ireland in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Weaknesses IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Irish Ireland 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Irish Ireland 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Irish Ireland 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 IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic HBR case study mentions - Irish Ireland 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic, it seems that the employees of Irish Ireland 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, Irish Ireland 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. Irish Ireland 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 dependence on existing supply chain
– The disruption in the global supply chains because of the Covid-19 pandemic and blockage of the Suez Canal illustrated the fragile nature of Irish Ireland supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Irish Ireland vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Irish Ireland is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic 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 IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic, 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Irish Ireland is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Irish Ireland needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Irish Ireland to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Irish Ireland, firm in the HBR case study IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Opportunities IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic | 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 IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Irish Ireland 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, IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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. Irish Ireland can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Buying journey improvements
– Irish Ireland can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Irish Ireland can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Developing new processes and practices
– Irish Ireland 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Irish Ireland 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.
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 Irish Ireland 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Irish Ireland can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Irish Ireland operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Irish Ireland 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.
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 Irish Ireland in the consumer business. Now Irish Ireland can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Loyalty marketing
– Irish Ireland 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.
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. Irish Ireland 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 Irish Ireland has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Irish Ireland to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic case study. Irish Ireland can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic are -
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 Irish Ireland in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Irish Ireland has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Irish Ireland 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 Irish Ireland 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Irish Ireland with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Irish Ireland needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic, Irish Ireland 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 .
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. Irish Ireland can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Increasing wage structure of Irish Ireland
– 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 Irish Ireland.
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 Irish Ireland business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, 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.
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 Irish Ireland.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Irish Ireland 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Irish Ireland 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 IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic .
Weighted SWOT Analysis of IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic 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 IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic 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 IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic 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 IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic 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 IBM Ireland: Reinventing Education Crosses the Atlantic 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 Irish Ireland needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
