THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker
Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker for product #PON443.Two-party, multi-issue, scoreable negotiation regarding a prenuptial agreement, calling for a balance of substantive and relationship concerns. Marlene Mayberry and Jacques Parker are young adults planning their marriage. After dating for 3 years, they have prepared a list of 10 assets that they have decided to include in a prenuptial agreement. The items include a joint checking account, a car, an apartment, furniture, an art gallery, Jacques' artwork, a portrait of Marlene, California real estate, a $1 million inheritance, and a pet dog. Jacques and Marlene are given confidential instructions that outline specific point values and resistance points for these items. They will each be awarded "Tangible Points" for the assets they claim for themselves in the prenuptial agreement. This is a role play case.
Swot Analysis of "THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker" written by Nicholas Sabin includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Jacques Prenuptial facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Conflict, Financial analysis, Negotiations and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker casestudy better are - – cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models, increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, competitive advantages are harder to sustain because of technology dispersion, there is backlash against globalization, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy,
increasing government debt because of Covid-19 spendings, increasing transportation and logistics costs, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Jacques Prenuptial, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Jacques Prenuptial 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 THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Jacques Prenuptial
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 Jacques Prenuptial
Strengths THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Jacques Prenuptial in THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker Harvard Business Review case study are -
Successful track record of launching new products
– Jacques Prenuptial has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Jacques Prenuptial 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.
Low bargaining power of suppliers
– Suppliers of Jacques Prenuptial in the sector have low bargaining power. THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Jacques Prenuptial to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Jacques Prenuptial 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 THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Ability to lead change in Strategy & Execution field
– Jacques Prenuptial 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 Jacques Prenuptial in – penetrating new markets, reaching out to new customers, and providing different value propositions to different customers in the international markets.
Innovation driven organization
– Jacques Prenuptial is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
Organizational Resilience of Jacques Prenuptial
– The covid-19 pandemic has put organizational resilience at the centre of everthing that Jacques Prenuptial does. Organizational resilience comprises - Financial Resilience, Operational Resilience, Technological Resilience, Organizational Resilience, Business Model Resilience, and Reputation Resilience.
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Jacques Prenuptial to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Jacques Prenuptial to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Training and development
– Jacques Prenuptial has one of the best training and development program in the industry. The effectiveness of the training programs can be measured in THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker 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 Jacques Prenuptial 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.
Ability to recruit top talent
– Jacques Prenuptial is one of the leading recruiters in the industry. Managers in the THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker are in a position to attract the best talent available. The firm has a robust talent identification program that helps in identifying the brightest.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Jacques Prenuptial 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.
Analytics focus
– Jacques Prenuptial 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 Nicholas Sabin 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 THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker are -
Workers concerns about automation
– As automation is fast increasing in the segment, Jacques Prenuptial 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.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Jacques Prenuptial has a very deliberative decision making approach. This approach has resulted in prudent decisions, but it has also resulted in missing opportunities in the industry over the last five years. Jacques Prenuptial even though has strong showing on digital transformation primary two stages, it has struggled to capitalize the power of digital transformation in marketing efforts and new venture efforts.
Interest costs
– Compare to the competition, Jacques Prenuptial 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.
High operating costs
– Compare to the competitors, firm in the HBR case study THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker 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 Jacques Prenuptial 's lucrative customers.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker, in the dynamic environment Jacques Prenuptial has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Jacques Prenuptial has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
Capital Spending Reduction
– Even during the low interest decade, Jacques Prenuptial has not been able to do capital spending to the tune of the competition. This has resulted into fewer innovations and company facing stiff competition from both existing competitors and new entrants who are disrupting the industry using digital technology.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Jacques Prenuptial is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Low market penetration in new markets
– Outside its home market of Jacques Prenuptial, firm in the HBR case study THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker needs to spend more promotional, marketing, and advertising efforts to penetrate international markets.
Employees’ incomplete understanding of strategy
– From the instances in the HBR case study THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker, it seems that the employees of Jacques Prenuptial 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
– Jacques Prenuptial 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.
Lack of clear differentiation of Jacques Prenuptial products
– To increase the profitability and margins on the products, Jacques Prenuptial needs to provide more differentiated products than what it is currently offering in the marketplace.
Opportunities THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker | 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 THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker are -
Leveraging digital technologies
– Jacques Prenuptial 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.
Learning at scale
– Online learning technologies has now opened space for Jacques Prenuptial 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Jacques Prenuptial is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker 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.
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. Jacques Prenuptial can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Reforming the budgeting process
- By establishing new metrics that will be used to evaluate both existing and potential projects Jacques Prenuptial can not only reduce the costs of the project but also help it in integrating the projects with other processes within the organization.
Buying journey improvements
– Jacques Prenuptial can improve the customer journey of consumers in the industry by using analytics and artificial intelligence. THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker 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.
Harnessing reconfiguration of the global supply chains
– As the trade war between US and China heats up in the coming years, Jacques Prenuptial 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, THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker, to buy more products closer to the markets, and it can leverage its size and influence to get better deal from the local markets.
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 Jacques Prenuptial in the consumer business. Now Jacques Prenuptial can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Manufacturing automation
– Jacques Prenuptial 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. Jacques Prenuptial 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. Jacques Prenuptial 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.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Jacques Prenuptial can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Jacques Prenuptial operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
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 Jacques Prenuptial 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Jacques Prenuptial 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 THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker are -
Increasing wage structure of Jacques Prenuptial
– 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 Jacques Prenuptial.
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Jacques Prenuptial 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.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Jacques Prenuptial 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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Jacques Prenuptial 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 Jacques Prenuptial is facing in Strategy & Execution sector. It can lead to higher research and development costs, higher marketing expenses, lower customer loyalty, etc.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Jacques Prenuptial 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 THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker .
Regulatory challenges
– Jacques Prenuptial 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.
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 Jacques Prenuptial in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
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 Jacques Prenuptial business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
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. Jacques Prenuptial needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
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.
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.
High dependence on third party suppliers
– Jacques Prenuptial 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.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker 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 THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker 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 THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker 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 THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker 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 THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker 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 Jacques Prenuptial needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
