Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement?
"Being a Change Agent"is a three-part case series set in a rural district of Assam in India. It describes the efforts made by Kuladhar Saikia, Deputy Inspector General of Police in the early 2000s, to tackle witchcraft-related crimes that were prevalent in this isolated and economically backward part of the country.
Swot Analysis of "Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement?" written by Vibha Gaba, Indira Pant, Phanish Puranam includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Agent Kuladhar facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Government, Leadership and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? casestudy better are - – increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, increasing transportation and logistics costs, wage bills are increasing, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, there is backlash against globalization,
central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement?
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Agent Kuladhar, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Agent Kuladhar 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 Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Agent Kuladhar
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 Agent Kuladhar
Strengths Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Agent Kuladhar in Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? Harvard Business Review case study are -
High brand equity
– Agent Kuladhar has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Agent Kuladhar to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Agent Kuladhar to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Agent Kuladhar to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Agent Kuladhar are driving operational speed, building greater agility, and keeping the organization nimble to compete with new competitors. It helps are organization to ideate new ideas, and execute them swiftly in the marketplace.
Strong track record of project management
– Agent Kuladhar is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Agent Kuladhar in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Agent Kuladhar is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? 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)
– Agent Kuladhar 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 Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Agent Kuladhar in the sector have low bargaining power. Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Agent Kuladhar to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Agent Kuladhar
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Agent Kuladhar does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Agent Kuladhar 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? 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.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Agent Kuladhar digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Agent Kuladhar 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.
Weaknesses Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? are -
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 Agent Kuladhar supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement?, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Agent Kuladhar vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Agent Kuladhar 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? 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 Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Agent Kuladhar is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Agent Kuladhar 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. Agent Kuladhar 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Agent Kuladhar is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Need for greater diversity
– Agent Kuladhar 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 bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Vibha Gaba, Indira Pant, Phanish Puranam suggests that, Agent Kuladhar is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? 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 Agent Kuladhar 's lucrative customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Agent Kuladhar 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement?, is just above the industry average. Agent Kuladhar 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Agent Kuladhar 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 Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? | 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 Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Agent Kuladhar 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Agent Kuladhar 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 Agent Kuladhar to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Agent Kuladhar has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Agent Kuladhar to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? case study. Agent Kuladhar can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Agent Kuladhar 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.
Buying journey improvements
– Agent Kuladhar can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? 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.
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. Agent Kuladhar 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 Agent Kuladhar 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, Agent Kuladhar can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Agent Kuladhar operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Agent Kuladhar can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Agent Kuladhar to increase its market reach. Agent Kuladhar will be able to reach out to new customers. Secondly 5G will also provide technology framework to build new tools and products that can help more immersive consumer experience and faster consumer journey.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Agent Kuladhar 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, Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement?, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Developing new processes and practices
– Agent Kuladhar 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.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Agent Kuladhar 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 Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Agent Kuladhar to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Threats Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? are -
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Agent Kuladhar 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Agent Kuladhar 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 Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? .
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.
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. Agent Kuladhar can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Agent Kuladhar.
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 Agent Kuladhar business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Instability in the European markets
– European Union markets are facing three big challenges post Covid – expanded balance sheets, Brexit related business disruption, and aggressive Russia looking to distract the existing security mechanism. Agent Kuladhar will face different problems in different parts of Europe. For example it will face inflationary pressures in UK, France, and Germany, balance sheet expansion and demand challenges in Southern European countries, and geopolitical instability in the Eastern Europe.
Environmental challenges
– Agent Kuladhar 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. Agent Kuladhar can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Agent Kuladhar is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, 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 Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement?, Agent Kuladhar 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 .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Agent Kuladhar 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
– Agent Kuladhar 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 dependence on third party suppliers
– Agent Kuladhar 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 Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? 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 Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? 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 Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? 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 Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? 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 Being a Change Agent (C): Birth of a Movement? 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 Agent Kuladhar needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.