Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement
Planning teams and boards of directors focus primarily on developing strategy and less on actually implementing it. Here is a technique they can use for incorporating implementation issues into the planning process, rather than dealing with them after the strategy has been approved. By means of a strategy implementation scorecard, they can identify desired outcomes or measures that become part of the firm's formal strategic plan. Considering such measures during the planning stage not only relates individual and department performance to strategy implementation, it also gives the board a more clearly defined role in strategy.
Swot Analysis of "Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement" written by Julie I. Siciliano includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Implementation Planning facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Strategy execution and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement casestudy better are - – there is increasing trade war between United States & China, geopolitical disruptions, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing energy prices, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic ,
increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Implementation Planning, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Implementation Planning 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 Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Implementation Planning
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 Implementation Planning
Strengths Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Implementation Planning in Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement Harvard Business Review case study are -
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Implementation Planning in the sector have low bargaining power. Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Implementation Planning to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Organizational Resilience of Implementation Planning
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Implementation Planning does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Implementation Planning 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 Implementation Planning 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
– Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Implementation Planning to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Implementation Planning to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Implementation Planning in the segment is based on four key concepts – personalization, simplification of complex needs, prompt response, and continuous engagement.
Strong track record of project management
– Implementation Planning is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Diverse revenue streams
– Implementation Planning is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Implementation Planning 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 Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Analytics focus
– Implementation Planning 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 Julie I. Siciliano 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.
Training and development
– Implementation Planning has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement 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
– Implementation Planning 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 Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Implementation Planning digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Implementation Planning 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 Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement are -
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement, it seems that the employees of Implementation Planning 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement, is just above the industry average. Implementation Planning 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement, in the dynamic environment Implementation Planning has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Implementation Planning has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Implementation Planning is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Implementation Planning needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Implementation Planning to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Need for greater diversity
– Implementation Planning 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement HBR case study mentions - Implementation Planning 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.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Implementation Planning 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.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Implementation Planning, firm in the HBR case study Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement 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 Implementation Planning 's lucrative customers.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Implementation Planning is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Implementation Planning 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.
Opportunities Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement | 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 Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement are -
Developing new processes and practices
– Implementation Planning 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Implementation Planning 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Implementation Planning 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.
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. Implementation Planning can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Implementation Planning has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Implementation Planning to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement case study. Implementation Planning can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Implementation Planning 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Implementation Planning can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Implementation Planning 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 Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Implementation Planning to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Loyalty marketing
– Implementation Planning 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Implementation Planning can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Implementation Planning operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Implementation Planning 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.
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 Implementation Planning in the consumer business. Now Implementation Planning can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
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. Implementation Planning 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. Implementation Planning 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 Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement are -
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. Implementation Planning 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 Implementation Planning.
Increasing wage structure of Implementation Planning
– 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 Implementation Planning.
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 Implementation Planning business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Implementation Planning 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Implementation Planning 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.
Environmental challenges
– Implementation Planning 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. Implementation Planning can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Implementation Planning 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.
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.
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 Implementation Planning in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Implementation Planning 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement, Implementation Planning 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 Implementation Planning 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement 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 Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement 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 Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement 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 Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement 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 Governance and Strategy Implementation: Expanding the Board's Involvement 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 Implementation Planning needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.