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 - – challanges to central banks by blockchain based private currencies, customer relationship management is fast transforming because of increasing concerns over data privacy, geopolitical disruptions, technology disruption, increasing commodity prices, there is backlash against globalization, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs,
digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, 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 -
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.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker 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.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Jacques Prenuptial digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Jacques Prenuptial 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.
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.
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.
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.
Learning organization
- Jacques Prenuptial 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 Jacques Prenuptial is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
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.
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.
Diverse revenue streams
– Jacques Prenuptial is present in almost all the verticals within the industry. This has provided firm in THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker 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.
Superior customer experience
– The customer experience strategy of Jacques Prenuptial 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
– Jacques Prenuptial is known for sticking to its project targets. This enables the firm to manage – time, project costs, and have sustainable margins on the projects.
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 -
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker 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 THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Jacques Prenuptial is planning to shift buying processes online.
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.
Compensation and incentives
– The revenue per employee as mentioned in the HBR case study THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker, is just above the industry average. Jacques Prenuptial 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.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Nicholas Sabin suggests that, Jacques Prenuptial is facing high bargaining power of the channel partners. So far it has not able to streamline the operations to reduce the bargaining power of the value chain partners in the industry.
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 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 Jacques Prenuptial supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Jacques Prenuptial vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker, it seems that company is thinking about the frontier risks that can impact Strategy & Execution strategy. But it has very little resources allocation to manage the risks emerging from events such as natural disasters, climate change, melting of permafrost, tacking the rise of artificial intelligence, opportunities and threats emerging from commercialization of space etc.
High dependence on star products
– The top 2 products and services of the firm as mentioned in the THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker 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 Jacques Prenuptial has relatively successful track record of launching new products.
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Jacques Prenuptial has a high cash cycle compare to other players in the industry. It needs to shorten the cash cycle by 12% to be more competitive in the marketplace, reduce inventory costs, and be more profitable.
Skills based hiring
– The stress on hiring functional specialists at Jacques Prenuptial has created an environment where the organization is dominated by functional specialists rather than management generalist. This has resulted into product oriented approach rather than marketing oriented approach or consumers oriented approach.
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.
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 -
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.
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.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Jacques Prenuptial 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.
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. Jacques Prenuptial 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, 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Remote work and new talent hiring opportunities
– The widespread usage of remote working technologies during Covid-19 has opened opportunities for Jacques Prenuptial 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 Jacques Prenuptial to hire the very best people irrespective of their geographical location.
Better consumer reach
– The expansion of the 5G network will help Jacques Prenuptial to increase its market reach. Jacques Prenuptial 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.
Loyalty marketing
– Jacques Prenuptial 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.
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 -
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.
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.
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.
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. Jacques Prenuptial can utilize it by borrowing at lower rates and invest it into research and development, capital expenditure to fortify its core competitive advantage.
Environmental challenges
– Jacques Prenuptial needs to have a robust strategy against the disruptions arising from climate change and energy requirements. EU has identified it as key priority area and spending 30% of its 880 billion Euros European post Covid-19 recovery funds on green technology. Jacques Prenuptial can take advantage of this fund but it will also bring new competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry.
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 Jacques Prenuptial.
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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study THE STAKES OF ENGAGEMENT - Confidential Instructions for Jacques Parker, Jacques Prenuptial 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 acceleration in Forth Industrial Revolution
– Jacques Prenuptial has witnessed rapid integration of technology during Covid-19 in the Strategy & Execution industry. As one of the leading players in the industry, Jacques Prenuptial 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.
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.
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.
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.