SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
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Case Study Description of SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent
Accompanied by product #PON425.Two-party negotiation between agents for an opera singer and an opera house regarding a possible contract for an upcoming production. Sally Soprano is a distinguished soprano who is now somewhat past her prime. She has not had a lead role in two years, but would like to revive her career. The Lyric Opera has a production scheduled to open in three weeks, but its lead soprano has become unavailable. Lyric's representative has requested a meeting with Sally's agent to discuss the possibility of hiring Sally for the production. Neither knows much about the other's interests or alternatives. There is a wide range of possible outcomes. This is a role play case.
Swot Analysis of "SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent" written by Norbert Jacker, Mark Gordon includes – strengths weakness that are internal strategic factors of the organization, and opportunities and threats that Soprano Sally facing as an external strategic factors. Some of the topics covered in SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent case study are - Strategic Management Strategies, Career planning, Conflict, Negotiations and Strategy & Execution.
Some of the macro environment factors that can be used to understand the SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent casestudy better are - – increasing inequality as vast percentage of new income is going to the top 1%, increasing household debt because of falling income levels, banking and financial system is disrupted by Bitcoin and other crypto currencies, central banks are concerned over increasing inflation, digital marketing is dominated by two big players Facebook and Google, talent flight as more people leaving formal jobs, cloud computing is disrupting traditional business models,
wage bills are increasing, increasing commodity prices, etc
Introduction to SWOT Analysis of SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent
SWOT stands for an organization’s Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats . At Oak Spring University , we believe that protagonist in SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent case study can use SWOT analysis as a strategic management tool to assess the current internal strengths and weaknesses of the Soprano Sally, and to figure out the opportunities and threats in the macro environment – technological, environmental, political, economic, social, demographic, etc in which Soprano Sally 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 SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent can be done for the following purposes –
1. Strategic planning using facts provided in SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent case study
2. Improving business portfolio management of Soprano Sally
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 Soprano Sally
Strengths SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Strengths in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The strengths of Soprano Sally in SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent Harvard Business Review case study are -
Sustainable margins compare to other players in Strategy & Execution industry
– SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent firm has clearly differentiated products in the market place. This has enabled Soprano Sally to fetch slight price premium compare to the competitors in the Strategy & Execution industry. The sustainable margins have also helped Soprano Sally to invest into research and development (R&D) and innovation.
Operational resilience
– The operational resilience strategy in the SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent 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.
Highly skilled collaborators
– Soprano Sally 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 SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent HBR case study have helped the firm to develop new products and bring them quickly to the marketplace.
Cross disciplinary teams
– Horizontal connected teams at the Soprano Sally 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.
Successful track record of launching new products
– Soprano Sally has launched numerous new products in last few years, keeping in mind evolving customer preferences and competitive pressures. Soprano Sally 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 Soprano Sally in the sector have low bargaining power. SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent has further diversified its suppliers portfolio by building a robust supply chain across various countries. This helps Soprano Sally to manage not only supply disruptions but also source products at highly competitive prices.
Analytics focus
– Soprano Sally 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 Norbert Jacker, Mark Gordon can also help it to harness the power of analytics for – marketing optimization, demand forecasting, customer relationship management, inventory management, information sharing across the value chain etc.
Effective Research and Development (R&D)
– Soprano Sally 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 SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent - staying ahead in the industry in terms of – new product launches, superior customer experience, highly competitive pricing strategies, and great returns to the shareholders.
Innovation driven organization
– Soprano Sally is one of the most innovative firm in sector. Manager in SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent Harvard Business Review case study can use Clayton Christensen Disruptive Innovation strategies to further increase the scale of innovtions in the organization.
High brand equity
– Soprano Sally has strong brand awareness and brand recognition among both - the exiting customers and potential new customers. Strong brand equity has enabled Soprano Sally to keep acquiring new customers and building profitable relationship with both the new and loyal customers.
Digital Transformation in Strategy & Execution segment
- digital transformation varies from industry to industry. For Soprano Sally digital transformation journey comprises differing goals based on market maturity, customer technology acceptance, and organizational culture. Soprano Sally 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.
Learning organization
- Soprano Sally 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 Soprano Sally is open place that encourages instructiveness, ideation, open minded discussions, and creativity. Employees and leaders in SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent Harvard Business Review case study emphasize – knowledge, initiative, and innovation.
Weaknesses SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent | Internal Strategic Factors
What are Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The weaknesses of SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent are -
High cash cycle compare to competitors
Soprano Sally 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.
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 Soprano Sally supply chain. Even after few cautionary changes mentioned in the HBR case study - SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent, it is still heavily dependent upon the existing supply chain. The existing supply chain though brings in cost efficiencies but it has left Soprano Sally vulnerable to further global disruptions in South East Asia.
Products dominated business model
– Even though Soprano Sally 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 - SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent should strive to include more intangible value offerings along with its core products and services.
Slow decision making process
– As mentioned earlier in the report, Soprano Sally 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. Soprano Sally 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.
No frontier risks strategy
– After analyzing the HBR case study SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent, 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.
Ability to respond to the competition
– As the decision making is very deliberative, highlighted in the case study SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent, in the dynamic environment Soprano Sally has struggled to respond to the nimble upstart competition. Soprano Sally has reasonably good record with similar level competitors but it has struggled with new entrants taking away niches of its business.
High bargaining power of channel partners
– Because of the regulatory requirements, Norbert Jacker, Mark Gordon suggests that, Soprano Sally 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.
Slow to strategic competitive environment developments
– As SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent HBR case study mentions - Soprano Sally 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.
Aligning sales with marketing
– It come across in the case study SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent 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 SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent can leverage the sales team experience to cultivate customer relationships as Soprano Sally is planning to shift buying processes online.
Need for greater diversity
– Soprano Sally 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.
Slow to harness new channels of communication
– Even though competitors are using new communication channels such as Instagram, Tiktok, and Snap, Soprano Sally is slow explore the new channels of communication. These new channels of communication mentioned in marketing section of case study SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent can help to provide better information regarding products and services. It can also build an online community to further reach out to potential customers.
Opportunities SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent | 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 SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent are -
Manufacturing automation
– Soprano Sally 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.
Leveraging digital technologies
– Soprano Sally 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 Soprano Sally 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.
Low interest rates
– Even though inflation is raising its head in most developed economies, Soprano Sally 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.
Redefining models of collaboration and team work
– As explained in the weaknesses section, Soprano Sally is facing challenges because of the dominance of functional experts in the organization. SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent 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.
Creating value in data economy
– The success of analytics program of Soprano Sally has opened avenues for new revenue streams for the organization in the industry. This can help Soprano Sally to build a more holistic ecosystem as suggested in the SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent case study. Soprano Sally can build new products and services such as - data insight services, data privacy related products, data based consulting services, etc.
Building a culture of innovation
– managers at Soprano Sally 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.
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 Soprano Sally in the consumer business. Now Soprano Sally can target international markets with far fewer capital restrictions requirements than the existing system.
Using analytics as competitive advantage
– Soprano Sally has spent a significant amount of money and effort to integrate analytics and machine learning into its operations in the sector. This continuous investment in analytics has enabled, as illustrated in the Harvard case study SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent - to build a competitive advantage using analytics. The analytics driven competitive advantage can help Soprano Sally to build faster Go To Market strategies, better consumer insights, developing relevant product features, and building a highly efficient supply chain.
Increase in government spending
– As the United States and other governments are increasing social spending and infrastructure spending to build economies post Covid-19, Soprano Sally can use these opportunities to build new business models that can help the communities that Soprano Sally operates in. Secondly it can use opportunities from government spending in Strategy & Execution sector.
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. Soprano Sally can explore opportunities that can attract volunteers and are consistent with its mission and vision.
Developing new processes and practices
– Soprano Sally can develop new processes and procedures in Strategy & Execution industry using technology such as automation using artificial intelligence, real time transportation and products tracking, 3D modeling for concept development and new products pilot testing etc.
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. Soprano Sally can tie-up with other value chain partners to explore new opportunities regarding meeting customer demands and building a rewarding and engaging relationship.
Threats SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent External Strategic Factors
What are Threats in the SWOT Analysis / TOWS Matrix / Weighted SWOT Analysis
The threats mentioned in the HBR case study SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent are -
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.
Barriers of entry lowering
– As technology is more democratized, the barriers to entry in the industry are lowering. It can presents Soprano Sally with greater competitive threats in the near to medium future. Secondly it will also put downward pressure on pricing throughout the sector.
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 Soprano Sally in the Strategy & Execution sector and impact the bottomline of the organization.
Stagnating economy with rate increase
– Soprano Sally 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.
Regulatory challenges
– Soprano Sally 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.
Learning curve for new practices
– As the technology based on artificial intelligence and machine learning platform is getting complex, as highlighted in case study SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent, Soprano Sally 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 .
Trade war between China and United States
– The trade war between two of the biggest economies can hugely impact the opportunities for Soprano Sally 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.
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. Soprano Sally 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.
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 Soprano Sally business can come under increasing regulations regarding data privacy, data security, etc.
Increasing wage structure of Soprano Sally
– 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 Soprano Sally.
Increasing international competition and downward pressure on margins
– Apart from technology driven competitive advantage dilution, Soprano Sally 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 SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent .
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 Soprano Sally.
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. Soprano Sally needs to understand the core reasons impacting the Strategy & Execution industry. This will help it in building a better workplace.
Weighted SWOT Analysis of SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent 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 SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent 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 SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent 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 SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent 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 SALLY SOPRANO I - Confidential Instructions for Sally's Agent 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 Soprano Sally needs to make to build a sustainable competitive advantage.
