Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform
Case B covers the period between May and October 2001. It describes the change and effects of a new leadership style on the negotiation process. It shows how Hamilton, by bridging the gap and building new relationship with the different stakeholders (local, regional and national unions; employees and their families, the community), manages to energize his management team throughout the long and difficult project and prepare employees for their transition from their past to their future.
Swot Analysis of "Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform" written by Quy Huy, Ramina Samii, Marc Avanzo includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Maxime Energize facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Labor, Psychology and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform casestudy better are - – wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, increasing energy prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies,
geopolitical disruptions, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Maxime Energize, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Maxime Energize 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 Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Maxime Energize
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 Maxime Energize
Strengths Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Maxime Energize in Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Maxime Energize
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Maxime Energize does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Maxime Energize to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Maxime Energize to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Maxime Energize digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Maxime Energize 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.
Strong track record of project management
– Maxime Energize is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Learning organization
- Maxime Energize 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 Maxime Energize is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Maxime Energize is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Diverse revenue streams
– Maxime Energize is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Maxime Energize in the sector have low bargaining power. Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Maxime Energize to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Maxime Energize 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 Quy Huy, Ramina Samii, Marc Avanzo 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Maxime Energize 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Maxime Energize 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 Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
High brand equity
– Maxime Energize has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Maxime Energize to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Weaknesses Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform are -
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform HBR case study mentions - Maxime Energize 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 Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform, in the dynamic environment Maxime Energize has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Maxime Energize has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Maxime Energize 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 - Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform, is just above the industry average. Maxime Energize 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform 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 Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Maxime Energize is planning to shift buying processes online.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Maxime Energize 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Maxime Energize 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Quy Huy, Ramina Samii, Marc Avanzo suggests that, Maxime Energize 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Maxime Energize has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Maxime Energize, firm in the HBR case study Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform, 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.
Opportunities Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform | 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 Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform are -
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Maxime Energize to increase its market reach. Maxime Energize 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Maxime Energize 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Maxime Energize 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Maxime Energize 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, Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Manufacturing automation
– Maxime Energize 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Maxime Energize can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Maxime Energize 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, Maxime Energize 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Maxime Energize 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. Maxime Energize can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Maxime Energize can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
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. Maxime Energize 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. Maxime Energize 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.
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 Maxime Energize in the consumer business. Now Maxime Energize can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Threats Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Maxime Energize 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 Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform .
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. Maxime Energize needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Maxime Energize 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Maxime Energize 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.
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 Maxime Energize.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Maxime Energize has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Maxime Energize 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.
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Maxime Energize with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Maxime Energize in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Maxime Energize 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Maxime Energize 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.
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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Maxime Energize 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 Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform 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 Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform 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 Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform 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 Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform 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 Vector (B): Labour Negotiations at Maxime Platform 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 Maxime Energize needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.