Case Study Description of Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change
The quality of both strategic thinking and action rely, in important ways, on the quality of the strategic conversations underway at all levels in the organization. The design of these conversations is the defining contribution of the strategy-making process. When these strategic conversations about the design of the future operate successfully at both local and organizational levels, they create a "meta-capability" for strategy-making capable of both furthering intended strategy and for recognizing opportunities for emergent strategy.
Swot Analysis of "Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change" written by Jeanne M. Liedtka, John W. Rosenblum includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Conversations Meta facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Competitive strategy, Organizational culture and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change casestudy better are - – competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, increasing commodity prices, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, increasing energy prices,
increasing transportation and logistics costs, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Conversations Meta, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Conversations Meta 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 Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Conversations Meta
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 Conversations Meta
Strengths Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Conversations Meta in Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change Harvard Business Review case study are -
Organizational Resilience of Conversations Meta
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Conversations Meta 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 Conversations Meta 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.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Conversations Meta 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.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Conversations Meta 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 Conversations Meta in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Analytics focus
– Conversations Meta 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 Jeanne M. Liedtka, John W. Rosenblum 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.
High brand equity
– Conversations Meta has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Conversations Meta to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Conversations Meta 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 Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Conversations Meta has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Conversations Meta has effective processes in place that helps in exploring new product needs, doing quick pilot testing, and then launching the products quickly using its extensive distribution network.
Learning organization
- Conversations Meta 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 Conversations Meta is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Conversations Meta is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Conversations Meta digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Conversations Meta 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.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Conversations Meta to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Conversations Meta to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Weaknesses Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change are -
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Conversations Meta is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change 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 dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change HBR case study still accounts for major business revenue. This dependence on star products in has resulted into insufficient focus on developing new products, even though Conversations Meta has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Conversations Meta 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.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Conversations Meta is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Conversations Meta needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Conversations Meta to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Jeanne M. Liedtka, John W. Rosenblum suggests that, Conversations Meta 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Conversations Meta 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 - Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change HBR case study mentions - Conversations Meta takes time to assess the upcoming competitions. This has led to missing out on atleast 2-3 big opportunities in the industry in last five years.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change, in the dynamic environment Conversations Meta has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Conversations Meta has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change 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 Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Conversations Meta is planning to shift buying processes online.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change, it seems that the employees of Conversations Meta 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 Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change, is just above the industry average. Conversations Meta 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.
Opportunities Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change | 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 Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change are -
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. Conversations Meta can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Conversations Meta 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 Conversations Meta 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Conversations Meta 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Conversations Meta 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.
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. Conversations Meta 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. Conversations Meta 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Conversations Meta has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Conversations Meta to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change case study. Conversations Meta can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Conversations Meta 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 Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Conversations Meta to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Conversations Meta can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Conversations Meta operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Developing new processes and practices
– Conversations Meta 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.
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. Conversations Meta 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 Conversations Meta 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 Conversations Meta 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.
Threats Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change are -
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Conversations Meta 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Conversations Meta 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.
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 Conversations Meta in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Conversations Meta 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.
Environmental challenges
– Conversations Meta 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. Conversations Meta can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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.
Regulatory challenges
– Conversations Meta 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.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Conversations Meta 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 Conversations Meta with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Conversations Meta 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 Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change .
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. Conversations Meta can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Conversations Meta 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.
Increasing wage structure of Conversations Meta
– 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 Conversations Meta.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change 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 Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change 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 Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change 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 Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change 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 Shaping Conversations: Making Strategy, Managing Change 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 Conversations Meta needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.