FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
Strategy & Execution
Strategy / MBA Resources
Case Study SWOT Analysis Solution
Case Study Description of FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity
Discusses FCB and Publicis, partners in a global advertising agency alliance, working together with their clients to provide excellent service. May be used with FCB and Publicis (A): Forming the Alliance and (C): The German-Led Network.
Authors :: Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Kalman D. Applbaum, Pamela Yatsko
Topics :: Strategy & Execution
Tags :: Diversity, Ethics, International business, Joint ventures, Leading teams, Workspaces, SWOT Analysis, SWOT Matrix, TOWS, Weighted SWOT Analysis
Swot Analysis of "FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity" written by Rosabeth Moss Kanter, Kalman D. Applbaum, Pamela Yatsko includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Fcb Publicis facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Diversity, Ethics, International business, Joint ventures, Leading teams, Workspaces and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity casestudy better are - – geopolitical disruptions, there is increasing trade war between United States & China, challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, supply chains are disrupted by pandemic , digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, wage bills are increasing, increasing transportation and logistics costs,
increasing household debt because of falling income levels, technology disruption, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Fcb Publicis, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Fcb Publicis 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 FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Fcb Publicis
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 Fcb Publicis
Strengths FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Fcb Publicis in FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity Harvard Business Review case study are -
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Fcb Publicis 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
– Fcb Publicis is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
Training and development
– Fcb Publicis has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity 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
– Fcb Publicis 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 FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Fcb Publicis to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Fcb Publicis to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Organizational Resilience of Fcb Publicis
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Fcb Publicis does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Fcb Publicis 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
– Fcb Publicis 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 Fcb Publicis in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Fcb Publicis digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Fcb Publicis 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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity Harvard Business Review case study comprises – understanding the underlying the factors in the industry, building diversified operations across different geographies so that disruption in one part of the world doesn’t impact the overall performance of the firm, and integrating the various business operations and processes through its digital transformation drive.
Innovation driven organization
– Fcb Publicis is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Learning organization
- Fcb Publicis 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 Fcb Publicis is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Fcb Publicis 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.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity, it seems that the employees of Fcb Publicis 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.
Need for greater diversity
– Fcb Publicis 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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity, is just above the industry average. Fcb Publicis 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.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Fcb Publicis 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.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Fcb Publicis 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 - FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
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 Fcb Publicis supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Fcb Publicis vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity 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 Fcb Publicis 's lucrative customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Fcb Publicis, firm in the HBR case study FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity 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 FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Fcb Publicis is planning to shift buying processes online.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity HBR case study mentions - Fcb Publicis 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.
Opportunities FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity | 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 FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity are -
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Fcb Publicis is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity 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.
Manufacturing automation
– Fcb Publicis 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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Fcb Publicis 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Fcb Publicis 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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Fcb Publicis 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 Fcb Publicis to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Buying journey improvements
– Fcb Publicis can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity 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.
Lowering marketing communication costs
– 5G expansion will open new opportunities for Fcb Publicis in the field of marketing communication. It will bring down the cost of doing business, provide technology platform to build new products in the Strategy & Execution segment, and it will provide faster access to the consumers.
Identify volunteer opportunities
– Covid-19 has impacted working population in two ways – it has led to people soul searching about their professional choices, resulting in mass resignation. Secondly it has encouraged people to do things that they are passionate about. This has opened opportunities for businesses to build volunteer oriented socially driven projects. Fcb Publicis can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Fcb Publicis can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Fcb Publicis operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Fcb Publicis 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Fcb Publicis 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.
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 Fcb Publicis in the consumer business. Now Fcb Publicis can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Fcb Publicis 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.
Threats FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity are -
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Fcb Publicis 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 FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity .
Regulatory challenges
– Fcb Publicis 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Fcb Publicis 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.
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 Fcb Publicis in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Fcb Publicis 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.
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 Fcb Publicis business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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.
Increasing wage structure of Fcb Publicis
– 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 Fcb Publicis.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Fcb Publicis with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
Shortening product life cycle
– it is one of the major threat that Fcb Publicis is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
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 Fcb Publicis.
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. Fcb Publicis 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.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Fcb Publicis 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity 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 FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity 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 FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity 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 FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity 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 FCB and Publicis (B): Managing Client and Country Diversity 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 Fcb Publicis needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
