Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum
This is a case which might inspire discussion both about political strategy and the relation of marginalized cultural groups to the mainstream. It tells the story of a 1988 attempt via referendum to declare English to be the official language of the state of Florida-an attempt, in part, inspired by tension and jealousy surrounding the arrival and relative affluence of the large Spanish-speaking population of South Florida. The alternative strategies which they conceive reflect both their views about the likely nature of the campaign and their views about how a minority relates to the majority. HKS Case Number 990.0
Swot Analysis of "Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum" written by Pamela Varley, Marc Roberts includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Referendum Florida facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Demographics, Diversity, Policy, Strategic planning and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum casestudy better are - – technology disruption, geopolitical disruptions, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , there is backlash against globalization, increasing commodity prices,
increasing energy prices, increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Referendum Florida, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Referendum Florida 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 Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Referendum Florida
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 Referendum Florida
Strengths Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Referendum Florida in Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum Harvard Business Review case study are -
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Referendum Florida 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.
Innovation driven organization
– Referendum Florida is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Referendum Florida digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Referendum Florida 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
– Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Referendum Florida to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Referendum Florida to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Referendum Florida is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
High brand equity
– Referendum Florida has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Referendum Florida to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Organizational Resilience of Referendum Florida
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Referendum Florida does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Learning organization
- Referendum Florida 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 Referendum Florida is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Referendum Florida in the sector have low bargaining power. Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Referendum Florida to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Referendum Florida 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 Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Referendum Florida 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 Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Analytics focus
– Referendum Florida 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 Pamela Varley, Marc Roberts 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.
Weaknesses Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum are -
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum, in the dynamic environment Referendum Florida has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Referendum Florida has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
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 Referendum Florida supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Referendum Florida vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum, is just above the industry average. Referendum Florida 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum, it seems that the employees of Referendum Florida 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.
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Referendum Florida 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.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum 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 Referendum Florida has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
Increasing silos among functional specialists
– The organizational structure of Referendum Florida is dominated by functional specialists. It is not different from other players in the Strategy & Execution segment. Referendum Florida needs to de-silo the office environment to harness the true potential of its workforce. Secondly the de-silo will also help Referendum Florida to focus more on services rather than just following the product oriented approach.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum 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 Referendum Florida 's lucrative customers.
Lack of clear differentiation of Referendum Florida products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Referendum Florida needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Referendum Florida is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Referendum Florida 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.
Opportunities Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum | 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 Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum are -
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Referendum Florida can build a diversified supply chain model across various countries in - South East Asia, India, and other parts of the world. This reconfiguration of global supply chain can help, as suggested in case study, Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Referendum Florida to increase its market reach. Referendum Florida 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.
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. Referendum Florida 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. Referendum Florida 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Referendum Florida 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Referendum Florida 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.
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. Referendum Florida can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Referendum Florida can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Referendum Florida operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Referendum Florida is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum 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 Referendum Florida 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 Referendum Florida 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.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Referendum Florida can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Referendum Florida has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Referendum Florida to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum case study. Referendum Florida can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Referendum Florida 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.
Threats Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum are -
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Referendum Florida with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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. Referendum Florida can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
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 Referendum Florida in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Referendum Florida 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.
Consumer confidence and its impact on Referendum Florida 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.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Referendum Florida 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 Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum .
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum, Referendum Florida 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 .
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.
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 Referendum Florida.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Referendum Florida in the Strategy & Execution industry. The Strategy & Execution industry is already at various protected from local competition in China, with the rise of trade war the protection levels may go up. This presents a clear threat of current business model in Chinese market.
Regulatory challenges
– Referendum Florida 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.
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. Referendum Florida 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.
Increasing wage structure of Referendum Florida
– 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 Referendum Florida.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum 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 Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum 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 Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum 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 Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum 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 Language and the Melting Pot: Florida's 1988 "Official English" Referendum 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 Referendum Florida needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
