Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers
Since ethics is an integral part of management, it is vital for managers to become comfortable with the language of ethics, and to understand how it is inextricable from the language of business. Students will examine key theories of ethics and how they apply to management decision making.
Authors :: Andrew C Wicks, R. Edward Freeman, Jared Harris, Bidhan Parmar
Swot Analysis of "Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers" written by Andrew C Wicks, R. Edward Freeman, Jared Harris, Bidhan Parmar includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Ethics Language facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers casestudy better are - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing energy prices, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion,
customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Ethics Language, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Ethics Language 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 Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Ethics Language
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 Ethics Language
Strengths Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Ethics Language in Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers Harvard Business Review case study are -
Diverse revenue streams
– Ethics Language is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Ethics Language has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Ethics Language 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Ethics Language is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Organizational Resilience of Ethics Language
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Ethics Language does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Analytics focus
– Ethics Language 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 Andrew C Wicks, R. Edward Freeman, Jared Harris, Bidhan Parmar 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.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Ethics Language 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 Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Training and development
– Ethics Language has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers 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.
High switching costs
– The high switching costs that Ethics Language 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Ethics Language 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 Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Ethics Language in the sector have low bargaining power. Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Ethics Language to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
High brand equity
– Ethics Language has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Ethics Language to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Ethics Language 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.
Weaknesses Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers are -
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Ethics Language is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Ethics Language needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Ethics Language to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers, it seems that the employees of Ethics Language 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Ethics Language 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Ethics Language 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 Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers 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 Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Ethics Language is planning to shift buying processes online.
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 Ethics Language supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Ethics Language vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers 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 Ethics Language 's lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Ethics Language, firm in the HBR case study Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers 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, Ethics Language is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Ethics Language 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 - Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Lack of clear differentiation of Ethics Language products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Ethics Language needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers | 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 Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers are -
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Ethics Language can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Ethics Language operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Ethics Language 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 Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Ethics Language to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Developing new processes and practices
– Ethics Language 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Ethics Language is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers case study suggests that firm can utilize new technology to build more coordinated teams and streamline operations and communications using tools such as CAD, Zoom, etc.
Reconfiguring business model
– The expansion of digital payment system, the bringing down of international transactions costs using Bitcoin and other blockchain based currencies, etc can help Ethics Language 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Ethics Language can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Ethics Language 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Ethics Language 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 Ethics Language to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
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. Ethics Language can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Ethics Language 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
– Ethics Language can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Ethics Language 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Ethics Language has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Ethics Language to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers case study. Ethics Language can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Threats Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers are -
High level of anxiety and lack of motivation
– the Great Resignation in United States is the sign of broader dissatisfaction among the workforce in United States. Ethics Language needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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 Ethics Language business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Ethics Language
– 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 Ethics Language.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers, Ethics Language may face longer learning curve for training and development of existing employees. This can open space for more nimble competitors in the field of Strategy & Execution .
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Ethics Language 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 Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers .
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Ethics Language with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Technology disruption because of hacks, piracy etc
– The colonial pipeline illustrated, how vulnerable modern organization are to international hackers, miscreants, and disruptors. The cyber security interruption, data leaks, etc can seriously jeopardize the future growth of the organization.
Regulatory challenges
– Ethics Language 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.
Technology acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Ethics Language has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Ethics Language needs to keep up with the evolution of technology in the Strategy & Execution sector. According to Mckinsey study top managers believe that the adoption of technology in operations, communications is 20-25 times faster than what they planned in the beginning of 2019.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Ethics Language 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 Ethics Language in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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. Ethics Language can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Ethics Language 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers 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 Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers 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 Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers 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 Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers 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 Introduction to Ethics: The Language of Ethics for Managers 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 Ethics Language needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.