United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group"
The UN is a typical example of a global organization with a complex politicized and "siloed" structure. How does one make the parts collaborate? How does one effect change and performance improvement when one does not have formal authority?
Authors :: Fabrizio Burlando, Luk Van Wassenhove, Mark Voorhes
Swot Analysis of "United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group"" written by Fabrizio Burlando, Luk Van Wassenhove, Mark Voorhes includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Politicized Siloed facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , wage bills are increasing, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption,
increasing energy prices, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group"
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Politicized Siloed, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Politicized Siloed 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 United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Politicized Siloed
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 Politicized Siloed
Strengths United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Politicized Siloed in United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Politicized Siloed in the sector have low bargaining power. United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Politicized Siloed to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Politicized Siloed digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Politicized Siloed 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Politicized Siloed 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
- Politicized Siloed 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 Politicized Siloed is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Politicized Siloed 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 United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Politicized Siloed is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Politicized Siloed 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 Politicized Siloed in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Politicized Siloed to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Politicized Siloed to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Diverse revenue streams
– Politicized Siloed is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Politicized Siloed is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Training and development
– Politicized Siloed has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Politicized Siloed 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 United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Weaknesses United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Politicized Siloed 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, Politicized Siloed 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Politicized Siloed, firm in the HBR case study United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Politicized Siloed is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Fabrizio Burlando, Luk Van Wassenhove, Mark Voorhes suggests that, Politicized Siloed 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group", it seems that the employees of Politicized Siloed 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.
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 Politicized Siloed supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group", it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Politicized Siloed vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group", is just above the industry average. Politicized Siloed 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.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Politicized Siloed 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" HBR case study mentions - Politicized Siloed 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" 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 United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Politicized Siloed is planning to shift buying processes online.
Opportunities United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" | 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 United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" are -
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Politicized Siloed 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Politicized Siloed 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.
Developing new processes and practices
– Politicized Siloed 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Politicized Siloed 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 Politicized Siloed to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Politicized Siloed to increase its market reach. Politicized Siloed 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Politicized Siloed 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Politicized Siloed 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Politicized Siloed 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Politicized Siloed 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.
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. Politicized Siloed can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
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 Politicized Siloed in the consumer business. Now Politicized Siloed can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Buying journey improvements
– Politicized Siloed can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Politicized Siloed has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Politicized Siloed to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" case study. Politicized Siloed can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" are -
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 Politicized Siloed.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Politicized Siloed is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Politicized Siloed with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Regulatory challenges
– Politicized Siloed 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.
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. Politicized Siloed can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group", Politicized Siloed 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 .
Consumer confidence and its impact on Politicized Siloed 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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Politicized Siloed 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.
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 Politicized Siloed in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Politicized Siloed 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 United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" .
Increasing wage structure of Politicized Siloed
– 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 Politicized Siloed.
Environmental challenges
– Politicized Siloed 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. Politicized Siloed can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" 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 United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" 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 United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" 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 United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" 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 United Nations Inter-Agency Coordination in Southern Africa: "With a Little Help from The Boston Consulting Group" 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 Politicized Siloed needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
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