Case Study Description of Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance
Various mergers and acquisitions in the Indian information technology (IT) sector had resulted in the newly formed Mahindra Satyam (Mahindra) and the recently appointed chief compliance officer (CCO) was to develop a corporate governance structure that would address and repair previous mismanagement of the company. The CCO also functioned as the chief operating officer (COO) with profit centre responsibility for business verticals. His largest task as the CCO was to restore trust in the company and solidify its future among various stakeholders by bringing back integrity and transparency to the business. The CCO had to consider several criteria: What should his priorities be? What processes could be developed that would ensure corporate governance? What were the metrics with which the company could track the progress in corporate governance?
Authors :: Murray J. Bryant, Chandra Sekhar Ramasastry
Swot Analysis of "Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance" written by Murray J. Bryant, Chandra Sekhar Ramasastry includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Cco Mahindra facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Change management, Competitive strategy, Corporate governance, Human resource management, International business and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance casestudy better are - – supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , geopolitical disruptions, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, wage bills are increasing, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Cco Mahindra, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Cco Mahindra 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 Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Cco Mahindra
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 Cco Mahindra
Strengths Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Cco Mahindra in Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance Harvard Business Review case study are -
Highly skilled collaborators
– Cco Mahindra 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 Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Cco Mahindra 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.
Learning organization
- Cco Mahindra 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 Cco Mahindra is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Cco Mahindra 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 Cco Mahindra in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Cco Mahindra 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 Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance - 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
– Cco Mahindra has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Cco Mahindra to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Cco Mahindra in the sector have low bargaining power. Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Cco Mahindra to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Cco Mahindra 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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Cco Mahindra is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Cco Mahindra is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Analytics focus
– Cco Mahindra 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 Murray J. Bryant, Chandra Sekhar Ramasastry 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.
Weaknesses Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance are -
Lack of clear differentiation of Cco Mahindra products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Cco Mahindra needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Cco Mahindra 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 - Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Cco Mahindra 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. Cco Mahindra 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 Cco Mahindra supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Cco Mahindra vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Cco Mahindra, firm in the HBR case study Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Need for greater diversity
– Cco Mahindra 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 operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance 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 Cco Mahindra 's lucrative customers.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance HBR case study mentions - Cco Mahindra 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance, is just above the industry average. Cco Mahindra 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.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Cco Mahindra has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Cco Mahindra 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.
Opportunities Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance | 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 Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Cco Mahindra can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Cco Mahindra operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Cco Mahindra 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, Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Loyalty marketing
– Cco Mahindra 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.
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 Cco Mahindra 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Cco Mahindra 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Cco Mahindra 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Cco Mahindra 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Cco Mahindra 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Cco Mahindra 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Cco Mahindra 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 Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Cco Mahindra to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Buying journey improvements
– Cco Mahindra can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance 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 Cco Mahindra 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. Cco Mahindra 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. Cco Mahindra 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.
Threats Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance are -
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Cco Mahindra 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Cco Mahindra 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Cco Mahindra 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Cco Mahindra 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.
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 Cco Mahindra.
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 Cco Mahindra business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance, Cco Mahindra 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 .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Cco Mahindra 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 Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance .
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Cco Mahindra has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Cco Mahindra 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 Cco Mahindra with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing wage structure of Cco Mahindra
– 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 Cco Mahindra.
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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance 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 Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance 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 Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance 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 Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance 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 Mahindra Satyam - Restoring Corporate Governance 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 Cco Mahindra needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
